LA Kings at Minnesota Wild Preview: Key Points, Projected Lineups, and More

The Los Angeles Kings take their five-game winning streak on the road as they begin a Central Division trip with a matchup against the Minnesota Wild.

Look Back at the Last Meeting:

The Kings controlled the game in the last meeting between these two teams, skating to a 4-1 victory back in December. LA held the Wild to just 23 shots on goals and held them scoreless for nearly the entire game before Yakov Treinen scored with 1:13 to go. Trevor Moore struck twice while Adrian Kempe and Alex Laferriere added goals of their own. In net, Darcy Kuemper stopped 22 of 23 in the win against his former club.

Key Points Against the Minnesota Wild:

1. Dominate Darcy

What a stretch of games Darcy Kuemper is having in net for the LA Kings.

Across their five-game winning streak, goaltender Darcy Kuemper is a perfect 4-0-0 while posting an absurd .980 save percentage and an INSANE goals-against average of 0.50. That does not even feel correct; it is that good. Oh yeah, he's riding back-to-back shutouts too. When you extend the stats to his last ten games overall, Kuemper has a record of 7-2-1 with a goals-against average of 2.18 and a save percentage of .912.

What a pickup Darcy Kuemper has been. Expect him to be sharp again tonight against his former team.

2. BOOM X6

It's Quinton Byfield's world; we are all just living in it.

The Kings have seen their former 2nd overall pick take over games as of late, scoring in six straight games and playing at an 88-point pace since February 1st. Paired with Kevin Fiala and Alex Laferriere, Byfield and co. have broken out as LA's true #1 line as of late, taking pressure off Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar as they go through some ups and downs offensively.

Look for Quinton Byfield and his linemates to have another strong performance against the Wild.

3. Middling Minnesota

It's been rough sailing for the Wild as of late, winning just three times over their last ten games, including a really ugly 5-1 loss against the Blues on Saturday. They have seen themselves fall from a 3rd place spot in the Central Division to now six points behind the Avalanche.

The offense has really struggled for the Wild, sitting 26th overall in the league in goals for, and scoring just 18 goals over these last ten games, for an ugly 1.8 goals per game. Unfortunately for the Wild, the first thing you notice when deep-diving into their offensive struggles is who is not in the lineup. Both Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek remain out long term, while they have since lost defenseman Jonas Brodin to injury. The Wild lineup looks much weaker now, with them relying heavily on depth guys to jump into the top 6 and top 9 roles in order to get some offense.

The Kings need to come out flying and jump on a struggling opponent.

Los Angeles Lineup Notes:

The Kings have ran the same lineup for the last five games, with no changes expected tonight.

Look across the ice at the Minnesota Wild:

As mentioned above, the Wild are coming off a 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. Here is how they lined up for that one.

Offensively, the Wild are led offensively by Marco Rossi and Matt Boldy, who sit with 55 and 53 points, respectively. In terms of their defensive core, both Jared Spurgeon and Brock Faber sit in the mid-20s for total points.

While nothing has been confirmed, I would assume the Wild will turn to veteran Marc-Andre Fleury tonight after Gustavsson gave up 4 goals on 26 shots against the Blues. The NHL's oldest player is 12-8-1 on the season with a 2.72 goals against average and .904 save percentage.

The Wild are without the previously mentioned Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, and Brodin. Brodin has been skating but is not expected to play tonight.

How to Tune In:

Tonight's puck drop is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. PST and 8:00 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!