LA Kings vs Dallas Stars Preview: Projected Lines, Key Points, and More

The Los Angeles Kings look to make it three straight wins as they play host to the Dallas Stars.

Look Back at the Last Meeting:

These two teams last met back on December 4, with the Kings grabbing a 3-2 comeback win. LA, led by a two-point night from Warren Foegele, scored three unanswered goals after going down 2-0 after the first. David Rittich stopped 26 of 28 shots in the win.

Key Points against the Dallas Stars:

1. February Fun!

The Kings are scoring again!

After just 22 goals in 13 games in January, the Kings have hit the back of the net 10 times in just 2 games this month. When looking at the offense, no one is having more fun than the trio of Kevin Fiala, Quinton Byfield, and Alex Laferriere.

The Kings "third line" has a combined ten points across these two games in February, led by Quinton Byfield with five assists. When looking at the goals they are scoring, it's the dirty work that stands out. Against Carolina, Byfield makes a great defensive play, breaking up a cross-ice pass for the Canes, before Fiala takes off the other way. Against the Canadiens, QB knocks Hutson off the puck before Laferriere supports off the way and later on hits Fiala for the one-time goal. They are playing complete hockey, establishing a Kings forecheck, and capitalizing on their chances.

Against a good Stars team tonight, the Kings are going to need the Byfield, Fiala, and Laferriere trio to continue leading the way offensively.

2. Flying First Minutes

The Kings got off to a flying start in both the first and third periods, leading to early goals in each period.

In the first, it was Vladislav Gavrikov who got the scoring going, blasting a shot off the far side post and in. The Kings attacked a tired Canadiens team right away, living up to Jim Hiller's preaching of wanting the breakout to have more speed for counterattacks. The Kings took a 10-1 shot lead after the first five minutes of game time, never looking back and leaving the first period up 1-0.

For the third period, it was once again a defenseman getting the scoring going, as Brandt Clarke stepped into one off a pass from Anze Kopitar, giving the Kings a 3-1 lead just 15 seconds into the final frame.

Starting each period with speed, high intensity, and a good shot mentally will be important tonight against Dallas.

3. Darce vs Dallas

Expect Darcy Kuemper to get the start tonight against Dallas, a team he is very familiar with after his time in the Central Division with Minnesota and Colorado.

Kuemper has seen the Stars 18 times in his career and has a record of 9-6-3 with a save percentage of .915 and a goals-against average of 2.75. Kuemper also has two shutouts, one of which came in his previous stint with the Kings back in 2018. Something interesting to note, however, is that Kuemper has not faced Dallas since 2022, so there is a bit of a roster difference in between starts.

Either way, LA needs Kuemper to be strong tonight against a top-10 offense in Dallas.

LA Kings Lineup Notes:

The Kings hit the ice for a short practice on Thursday, with nothing changing from the last two games.

Look across the ice at the Dallas Stars:

Dallas has not played since Tuesday, a game they dropped 2-1 to the Anaheim Ducks. Here is how they lined up in that one, per Robert Tiffin:

The Stars offense is led by Jason Robertson, Matt Duchene, and Wyatt Johnston, but is loaded with other depth scorers.

Expect goaltender Jake Oettinger to get the start. Oettinger is 26-12-1 on the season with a .912 save percentage and 2.31 goals against average.

When looking at the Stars lineup, you see two big names missing in Tyler Seguin and Miro Heiskanen. Heiskanen was recently injured against Vegas, while Seguin has not played since December 1st. Dallas is also without Nils Lundqvist, who is out for the season, while Ilya Lybushkin and Mavirk Bourque are both question marks for tonight.

How to Tune In:

Tonight's puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PST and 10:30 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!