After two disappointing performances against Dallas and St. Louis, the Los Angeles Kings will wrap up the road trip tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Look Back at the Last Meeting:
The Kings and Blackhawks have met just once this season, with Chicago picking up a 4-3 shootout victory. Alex Laferriere led the way with two goals for LA, while Phil Danault had both a goal and an assist. Darcy Kuemper stopped 18 of 21 across regulation and overtime.
Despite this loss, the Kings are 7-0-3 in their last 10 against Chicago.
Key Points Against the Chicago Blackhawks:
1. Raise the Intensity
The division is there for the taking, yet the Kings have lacked that extra drive or pushback here on the roadtrip. This thankfully, is something the players are aware.
After the game in St. Louis, captain Anze Kopitar pointed at the Kings lack of intensity and took responsibility for that, saying, "We got to play with a lot of emotion. Everybody’s got to contribute more with me being on the very top of that list. I got to lead the way; make sure the team is ready and a lot more engaged than we were tonight.” The idea of the importance of tonight's game was doubled down by Joel Edmundson, stating that tonight is "a must win game."
While saying a game against the second worst team in hockey is not exactly the prettiest thing, it shows how this group is ready to bounce back from what we have seen the last two games. But words are one thing. Now go out there and actually do it.
2. Dangerous Darcy
Goaltender Darcy Kuemper has dominated the Chicago Blackhawks in his career, with a record of 8-2-2, a goals against average of 2.29, and a save percentage of .921.
When looking at his numbers in Chicago, Darcy has not suffered a loss in the United Center since 2019, back when he was with Arizona. In order for this trend of good hockey against Chicago to continue, the Kings need to help him out more. Against Dallas, Darcy faced tons of second and third chances off rebounds, while the Stars got behind the Kings defense at times as well.
LA Lineup Notes:
The Kings went back to a 12/6 setup against the Blues, with Akil Thomas coming in for Brandt Clarke. Midway through the game, we saw Adrian Kempe and Alex Laferriere switch spots. With no practice yesterday, we will have to wait till closer to puck drop to know more lineup wise.
Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes -
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) March 2, 2025
Turcotte - Kopitar - Laferriere
Foegele - Danault - Moore
Fiala - Byfield - Kempe
Jeannot - Lewis - Thomas
Anderson - Gavrikov
Edmundson - Doughty
Moverare - Spence
Rittich
Kuemper
Look across the ice at the Chicago Blackhawks:
It's a new look, Hawks team. Here is how Chicago lined up without Seth Jones in Anaheim.
Blackhawks lines in morning skate before hosting Kings tonight:
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 3, 2025
Slaggert-Bedard-Nazar
Athanasiou-Dach-Bertuzzi
Teravainen-Donato-Mikheyev
Maroon-Reichel-Smith
Vlasic-Crevier
Del Mastro-Murphy
Kaiser-Martinez
Brodie
Knight
Soderblom
Mrazek
Offensively wise the Blackhawks are led by Connor Bedard and Ryan Donato, with the latter setting himself up for a nice payday over the offseason.
In net, newly acquired Spencer Knight will get the start.
How to Tune In:
Tonight's puck drop is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. PST and 8:30 p.m. EST and is available to watch on FanDuel Sports Network West, with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes prior. An audio-only feed is available on the ESPN LA App. Go Kings Go!