LA Kings at Minnesota Wild projected lineups, odds, notes

The LA Kings begin a five-game road trip on Tuesday in Minnesota to take on the Wild in a key Western Conference matchup.

Projected Lineups

LA Kings (32-18-7)

Per LA Kings Insider Zach Dooley, here is how the Kings skated during Monday’s practice:

Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Fiala – Lizotte – Iafallo
Vilardi – Kupari – Kaliyev
Grundstrom – Anderson-Dolan – Lemieux

Anderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Edler – Walker
Bjornfot

Copley
Quick

Minnesota Wild (30-21-5)

Here is how Minnesota lined up in their 4-3 win over Nashville on Sunday:

#mnwild lines:
Kaprizov-Hartman-Zuccarello
Beckman-Ek-Boldy
Greenway-Gaudreau-Duhaime
Shaw-Dewar-Reaves

Middleton-Spurgeon
Brodin-Dumba
Merrill-Goligoski

Gustavsson

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) February 19, 2023

5-on-5

Here’s how the two teams match up at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick

They do it in different ways, but LA and Minnesota are pretty similar in terms of their 5-on-5 possession numbers.

Special Teams

The Kings and their second-best power play will meet a tough Minnesota penalty kill, which ranks seventh in the NHL.

Betting Odds

Let’s look at the odds, courtesy of Betstamp.

*Note: the odds below are for sports books offered in New York. Refer to available sports books specific to your state.

**Odds as of 10 am ET/7 am PT may have changed since this was published.

The LA Kings enter Tuesday as road underdogs, with BetRivers having the best price available at +112. FanDuel’s -126 is the best price on the hosts. The total on the game is six, with a couple of books offering the Over at -105 while FanDuel has the Under at -102.

I like the Kings in this one at plus money. Minnesota has had a hard time finding the back of the net as they are dead last in the NHL in GF/60 (1.8) in their last 25 games per Natural Stat Trick. As usual with the Kings, if they can get some saves, they’re likely to win the game. Pheonix Copley has been able to deliver those saves of late.

News & Notes

• Minnesota (65 points) currently sits in the Western Conference’s second Wild Card position. They got some help from the Philadelphia Flyers and San Jose Sharks on Monday as they beat the Calgary Flames and Seattle Kraken in regulation, respectively.
• The Kings (71) are just one point back of the Vegas Golden Knights, who are also in action on Tuesday in Chicago.
• Tuesday’s matchup will see two of the best power plays in the NHL. LA (2nd) and Minnesota (7th) are both top ten in the league.
• It’s been another impressive season for Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov. The 25-year-old has 33 goals and 33 assists in 56 games. He’s picked up four points in his last five, including a two-goal game on Sunday.
• Kaprizov’s former teammate, Kevin Fiala, has been as advertised for the Kings this season. His 61 points lead the team. After back-to-back three-point nights, Fiala has nine points in his last five games.
• His reign of leading the LA Kings in points may be coming to an end, but Anze Kopitar is again putting up another strong season. He has 50 points in 57 games, including ten in his last five.
• Pheonix Copley will be expected to get the nod in goal for the Kings. His strong season has continued as he’s stopped 68 of the last 71 shots he’s faced over the last three games (.958 save percentage), running his season totals to a 17-3-1 record, 2.70 goals-against average, and a .904 save percentage. Despite being 8-1-1 on the road this season, he does have a sub-.900 save percentage (.899) in games away from Los Angeles.

(Main Photo Credit: Craig Lassig, AP Photo)