The LA Kings take on the Florida Panthers tonight as they look to win back-to-back games.
The Kings are fresh off a 3-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets. It was the first time this season that the Kings held their opponent to 0 goals. The Panthers are coming off a 7-3 loss to the Ducks on Tuesday and will look to bounce back from that performance.
Here are the projected lines for the Kings tonight:
J. Armia – A. Kopitar – A. Kempe
K. Fiala – Q. Byfield – A. Laferriere
A. Kuzmenko – P. Danault – T. Moore
J. Malott – A. Turcotte – C. Perry
M. Anderson – D. Doughty
J. Edmundson – B. Clarke
B. Dumoulin – C. Ceci
A. Forsberg
D. Kuemper
Here are the projected lines for the Panthers tonight:
E. Luostarinen – A. Lundell – B. Marchand
C. Verhaeghe – E. Rodrigues – S. Reinhart
J. Boqvist – S. Bennett – M. Samoskevich
A. Greer – C. Schwindt – N. Gregor
G. Forsling – A. Ekblad
N. Mikkola – S. Jones
D. Sebrango – J. Petry
S. Bobrovsky
D. Tarasov
The Kings will still be missing Warren Foegele, who is still out with an upper-body injury. The Panthers are missing Tomas Nosek (Knee), Dmitry Kulikov ( Shoulder) and Jonah Gadjovich ( Upper Body).
The Kings are coming off a very impressive win over the Jets, and they are looking to continue that momentum. The Kings are ranked 23rd for their power play and 22nd on the penalty kill. The Panthers are ranked 16th on the power play and 24th on the penalty kill.
The Kings have opted to go with Goaltender Anton Forsberg tonight after Darcy Kuemper stopped all 23 shots he faced. Forsberg has a 2-2-1 record against the Panthers in 6 games, and he has a 2.48 GAA and .942 SV% in those games. At the same time, Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has a career record of 5-10-2 against the Kings, where he posted a 2.75 GAA and a .908 SV%.
The Kings will look to contain forward Brad Marchand, who leads the team with 13 points. The Kings also have to worry about the defence of the Panthers, as both Seth Jones and Gustav Forsling have 6 points in 13 games.
The Kings, on the other hand, are going to be looking at their depth scoring to provide them with that extra edge, as 3 players on the Kings have more than 10 points: Kevin Fiala, Quinton Byfield, and Adrian Kempe, but those 3 play top minutes for the Kings forwards. Another key player for the Kings heading into tonight’s game is Corey Perry, as he has 8 points in 8 games with the club.
While the Kings played some of their best hockey against the Jets, they will have to play clean hockey, as the Panthers like to play the body often. If the Kings can contain the Panthers’ stars and stay out of the penalty box, they are going to walk out with a win. My prediction for tonight is a 4-2 Win for the Kings.
