LA Kings vs Minnesota Wild Preview: Projected Lines, Key Points, and More

The Los Angeles Kings look to make it five in a row tonight against the NHL's top team, the Minnesota Wild.

Look Back at the Last Matchup

The Kings and Wild met back in early November, with the Kings picking up a 5-1 victory. After Minnesota opened the scoring in the 2nd, the Kings never looked back, scoring five unanswered. Trevor Lewis scored twice, and Alex Laferriere and Trevor Moore each picked up two assists. David Rittich stopped 23 of 24 shots in the win. For more on the Kings and Wild's all-time matchups, click here.

Key Points Against the Minnesota Wild

1. Contain Kirill

What a season Kirill Kaprizov is having. After a three-point night in Anaheim last night, the Wild star forward now sits atop the league in scoring, with 42 points. The Russian-born Kaprizov has seen success when playing in LA, collecting nine points in nine games.

2. Lineup Options

With the Kings activating Akil Thomas off IR this morning, the Kings now sit with 12 forwards and 8 defensemen, giving them multiple options for their lineup. LA did not hold a morning skate today considering the 5 PM puck drop, so we will have to wait and see how the lineup is set up. In terms of goaltending, David Rittich has been great, but do the Kings turn to Darcy Kuemper today off IR? That is also an option.

3. Second Line Success

The Kings got two of their three goals on Wednesday from the 2nd line of Warren Foegele, Quinton Byfield, and Tanner Jeannot. The line provides the Kings with constant forecheck pressure, grinding down their opponents, resulting in two goals coming from plays beginning from behind the net. Look for them to play a key role again tonight against a Minnesota team that has a lot of big bodies on their defensive core.

Here is how the Kings lined up against Dallas:

A Look Across the Ice at the Minnesota Wild

Minnesota enters tonight on the second half of a back-to-back after beating Anaheim 5-1 last night for their 5th straight win. Here is how they lined up last night:

As mentioned above, the Wild are being hit hard by the injury bug, as Joel Eriksson Ek, Mats Zuccarello, Jonas Brodin, and Jakub Lauko are all out. Minnesota's offense is led by Kirill Kaprizov, whose 42 points have him as the league's highest scorer. Pair this with the supporting cast of Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi, and Brock Faber, and you have the NHL's top team. In goal tonight for the Wild will be Marc-Andre Fleury. The 40-year-old has not lost in regulation this season, carrying a record of 5-0-1.

How to Tune In:

Tonight's game is scheduled for 5pm PST, 8pm EST, on KCAL. An audio-only feed is available on the ESPN LA App.