WHO: Los Angeles Kings (2-3-2) @ Dallas Stars (3-3-0)
WHAT: 2025 Regular-Season Game 8/82
WHEN: Thursday, October 23 @ 5:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: American Airlines Center – Dallas, TX
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: ESPN+ / Hulu – AUDIO – ESPN LA 710, ESPN LA App & LA Kings App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Kings continue on their five-game roadtrip with a visit to Texas to take on the Dallas Stars, aiming to build on Tuesday’s trip-opening win over St. Louis.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: While the Kings have struggled on the road in Dallas over the last few seasons, they did win two of three matchups in total to take the season series, claiming both games in Los Angeles. Forward Warren Foegele scored three goals over the three games and led the Kings with four points (3-1-4). Foegele has six career goals against the Stars, tied for his third most against any one opponent and his most against a team outside of the Pacific Division.

KINGS VITALS: From a lineup perspective, the Kings look set to run with the same group as Tuesday in St. Louis.

Goaltender Darcy Kuemper returned to the lineup on Tuesday with a fine showing, as he made 17 saves on 18 shots to earn his first victory of the season. Kuemper did not take the morning skate today, making him the projected starter. He has a lifetime record of 9-7-3 against Dallas, with a .910 save percentage and a 2.92 goals-against average.

The Kings held a full-team practice yesterday and went with an optional morning skate today at American Airlines Center. For reference, here’s how the team lined up on Tuesday in St. Louis –

Tonight’s @LAKings Line Rushes –

Kuzmenko – Laferriere – Kempe
Fiala – Byfield – Armia
Foegele – Danault – Moore
Malott – Turcotte – Perry

Dumoulin – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Anderson – Ceci

Kuemper
Forsberg

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) October 21, 2025

The Kings made a couple of changes on Tuesday as Kuemper and forward Corey Perry returned to the lineup against the Blues. Forward Anze Kopitar remains out with a foot injury and though he could feature on this trip, he does not appear likely to go tonight in Dallas. Should the Kings opt for any additional changes, forward Samuel Helenius and defenseman Jacob Moverare are options to check into the lineup.

STARS VITALS: After starting the season with three consecutive victories, Dallas has now dropped three straight, including a 5-1 defeat against Columbus on Tuesday evening.

Per Robert Tiffin of the StarsThoughts.com, here’s how Dallas lined up last time out –

Stars Lines in warmup:

Seguin-Hintz-Rantanen
Robertson-Johnston-Bourque
Hryckowian-Steel-Blackwell
Erne-Faksa-Bastian

Lindell-Heiskanen
Harley-Lyubushkin
Bishel-Petrovic

Oettinger in goal

— Robert Tiffin (@RobertTiffin) October 21, 2025

Forward Mikko Rantanen leads the Stars in scoring early in the season, as he’s collected seven points (3-4-7) from six games played. Rantanen has collected more points against the Kings over the last five seasons than any other player in the NHL. The Finnish winger has 31 points (11-20-31) from 19 games played, with his 20 assists also leading the league in that timeframe.

Storyline Of The Day – A Start, Not A Destination
I liked the message after the game from the Kings.

Solid enough 60 minutes, definitely more in the identity of the group. However, a 2-1 overtime win wasn’t a cause for massive celebration. Good win, certainly. But the feeling was clear.

“It starts the trip and that’s all it is,” Head Coach Jim Hiller said. “So, as good as that felt for us, we’ve got a couple hours to get on the plane and we’ve got to park that because we’ve dug ourselves a little hole. We’ve got to really be focused now on making this a road trip, not just one good game. That’s where our attention will turn pretty quickly”

You could’ve understood perhaps a moment to exhale. After winning just one of six to begin the season, getting a win in St. Louis, a city that hasn’t been all that friendly to the Kings from a win/loss standpoint of late, probably felt pretty nice. The Kings should be happy with the win. But if they’re satisfied, we’re in trouble. In the bigger picture, Hiller is spot on. The Kings did dig themselves a hole in the early goings and this trip isn’t about one victory. It’s about a winning trip and getting things back on track from a win/loss perspective.

What that game has to be is a building block.

For the second time this season, the Kings didn’t allow a goal at 5-on-5. The Kings set season lows for shot attempts and scoring chances allowed in all situations in a game that went a couple minutes beyond schedule. Those are Kings traits, a Kings identity that started to shine through. And, for the first time this season, when faced with one of those big moments to win the game, the Kings delivered. One week after failing to get the job done on a 4-on-3 overtime power play in Minnesota, in an eventual shootout loss, the Kings converted in St. Louis to earn the victory. A victory that is nice. But a victory that they want to be a driver towards sustained success.

“It’s a key, after the first game and the first win of a trip, the energy is high and everyone feels a lot better about themselves, it was a much-needed win,” forward Quinton Byfield said today. “It feels good, especially heading into today, there’s a lot of good teams on this trip so getting the first one off is huge for us.”

Tonight, the Kings are in Dallas for Game 2 of 5. Would like to see the defensive game continue from what we saw against the Blues and it’s important to get that from the start.

Dallas presents a more stern challenge than most, considering their offensive depth up front. Never an easy game there but in the NHL, there rarely is. This was a bigger trip for the Kings than most October roadies. After winning just once from six to begin the season, the stakes feel a bit higher. Tuesday’s win over St. Louis was a good start. But it’s not problem solved. Dallas is always a difficult matchup and it almost always starts early especially in this building. Bringing that same mindset and mentality early tonight is a huge key against the Stars.

“We have to bring that same mindset, the way we started in St. Louis – desperate, fast, hungry to be first to the puck right off the opening whistle – into tonight,” Hiller added this morning. “There’s no question that should really be a theme all year, but there are a couple of buildings that seem to get you a little quicker. I think Colorado is one, Carolina is one and Dallas is one. There’s a lot of truth in [that].”

The Kings are still in search of their first regulation victory of the season, one of just three teams in the league that have yet to win in 60 minutes. The other two are Calgary and San Jose. Building off of Tuesday, beginning tonight, is the goal right now for a Kings club that has bigger ambition than just one victory.

3 To Watch For –
– Getting Tuesday’s win was doubly important because of tonight’s challenge. The Kings have not won in Dallas since 2019, which precedes my time with the Kings. Carl Hagelin scored the game-winning goal. So yeah, it’s been a minute.

Dallas is one of the NHL’s best teams, no doubt about it. Over the last four seasons, the Stars are tied for sixth in the NHL in both points and goals at home. Coming into this matchup with two points, as opposed to a loss, should help both in terms of confidence and circumstance. On paper, tonight is the toughest matchup of the trip.

“Big team, they skate well, have a lot of skill, they’re just a good team every year going into the playoffs,” forward Joel Armia said this morning. “It’s going to be a good game for sure.”

As noted above, I think the starts are particularly important in Dallas. Just one of those buildings where the game seems to start at 120 percent, not build up to it. Kings need to be ready for that, playing the same way they did in St. Louis.

– If there’s an area of the game the Kings probably haven’t gotten enough credit for this season it’s the power play.

The Kings are clicking at 26.3 percent through seven games, tied for the sixth-best clip in the NHL. Against Carolina on Saturday, just the one opportunity but they converted with an essential goal in coming back to earn a point. After not converting on a 4-on-3 chance in overtime in Minnesota last week, the Kings buried the game-winning goal on the power play in overtime on Tuesday evening.

The biggest issue, thus far, has been number of opportunities. On a per-game basis, only the Toronto Maple Leafs are averaging less time on the man advantage than the Kings, who are currently averaging 4:02 per night.

Ultimately 5-of-19 is such a small sample size that we’re really not learning a ton. However, the Kings rank fifth in power-play goals when prorated to a per/60 basis. Could ask the question as to why the Kings aren’t getting more chances, whether that be down to not drawing enough calls or to officials not awarding penalties that should have been. Especially in a world where they actually called that tripping against Darcy Kuemper on Tuesday.

But, in limited action, the power play has done its job in the early goings of the season. After a much maligned start last year, this has been pretty encouraging.

– Lastly, the latest update on forward Anze Kopitar.

He did practice yesterday and today in a full-contact capacity but Hiller noted it was a “pretty light practice as far as physicality”, so there wasn’t any real issue with having Kopitar in the full-contact jersey. Hiller said that Kopitar is still “a ways away” at this time, so based on that, I’m not expecting him to go tonight. Kopitar is still on injured reserve though he could be activated at any point once he is ready to go.

Additionally, goaltender Pheonix Copley cleared waivers today and has been assigned to the AHL’s Ontario Reign. Copley was up with the Kings as Kuemper was day-to-day with an injury. Now that Kuemper is healthy, and Copley successfully cleared waivers, he will join the Reign, who are on route to Abbotsford.

Kings and Stars, 5 PM Pacific on tonight’s puck drop. Game 2 of 5 as the trip continues through the Central Division.