The LA Kings are hosting the Utah Mammoth tonight as they look to build on their best offensive game of the season after defeating the Chicago Blackhawks 6-0. The Utah Mammoth is coming off a 2-0 loss to the Calgary Flames. The Kings are looking to get a big win tonight. If they get 2 points, they would increase the gap between them and the Edmonton Oilers, who are only 2 points back of the Kings with 1 extra game played.
Projected Kings Lines
Here are the projected lines for the Kings tonight:
Alex Laferriere – Anze Kopitar – Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala – Quinton Byfield – Joel Armia
Warren Foegele – Phillip Danault — Trevor Moore
Andrei Kuzmenko – Alex Turcotte – Corey Perry
Mikey Anderson – Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson – Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin – Cody Ceci
Darcy Kuemper
Anton Forsberg
Projected Mammoth Lines
Here are the projected lines for the Mammoth tonight:
Clayton Keller – Nick Schmaltz – JJ Peterka
Daniil But – Barrett Hayton – Dylan Guenther
Michael Carcone – Jack McBain – Lawson Crouse
Liam O’Brien – Kevin Stenlund – Brandon Tanev
Mikhail Sergachev – John Marino
Nate Schmidt – Sean Durzi
Ian Cole – Maverik Lamoureux
Karel Vejmelka
Vitek Vanecek
Injuries and Line Changes
For the Kings, they remain healthy entering this game and have no one listed on their injury report. The Mammoth are dealing with some injuries, and early this morning it was announced that forward Logan Cooley is out with an injury sustained in the game against the Vancouver Canucks. Also missing tonight’s game for the Mammoth are Alex Kerfoot (lower body) and Olli Maatta (upper body).
The Kings’ power play continues to struggle, ranking 31st in the NHL, while the Mammoth are ranked 28th; neither team is finding success on the man advantage. For the penalty kill, the Mammoth are ranked 9th, and the Kings are ranked 19th, so special teams favour the Mammoth.
The Kings will have to be wary of the Mammoth’s strong offensive play, as Clayton Keller leads the team with 26 points and has 5 points in his last 5 games. For the Kings, they will be looking at Adrian Kempe once again, as he is the only player on the Kings to have over 20 points this season. Kempe has 4 points in his last 5 games.
On the defensive end, the Kings will have to focus on Mikhail Sergachev, who leads the Mammoth in points among defensemen. He is not only good defensively; he is also the quarterback of the Mammoth power play, and he is not afraid to get pucks on net. The Kings will be looking at one of their leaders, who they just got back: Drew Doughty, who has 4 points in his last 5 games.
If the Kings can play as they did against the Blackhawks the other night, then this will be a very winnable game. My prediction for tonight is a 2-1 Kings win.
