WHO: Los Angeles Kings (16-14-9) vs. Minnesota Wild (25-10-7)
WHAT: 2025 Regular-Season Game 40/82
WHEN: Saturday, January 3 @ 6:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FanDuel Sports Network – AUDIO – ESPN LA App & LA Kings App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings
TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Kings begin the first of two consecutive games against the Minnesota Wild tonight at Crypto.com Arena.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings were led by multi-point games from Adrian Kempe and Quinton Byfield when these teams met in Minnesota back in October. Byfield has four points (2-2-4) over his last four games played against Minnesota and he has a career +9 rating in 10 games played versus the Wild, leading all Kings skaters since 2021. Over the last five seasons, Kempe leads the Kings with seven goals and 14 points.
KINGS VITALS: Following a full-team practice yesterday, the Kings held a highly optional morning skate today at Toyota Sports Performance Center.
Darcy Kuemper is expected to get the start again in net, against the team that drafted him in 2011. He also made his NHL debut with Minnesota back in 2012. Kuemper has a lifetime record of 5-7-2 against Minnesota, with a .904 save percentage and a 2.77 goals-against average.
Expecting the same lineup tonight for the Kings, as confirmed by Head Coach Jim Hiller this morning –
Tonight’s @LAKings Line Rushes –
Laferriere – Kopitar – Kempe
Foegele – Byfield – Armia
Fiala – Turcotte – Kuzmenko
Malott – Helenius – Perry
Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci
Kuemper
Forsberg
As noted earlier, no Trevor Moore tonight due to illness.
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) January 1, 2026
Hiller also confirmed that Trevor Moore is not expected back in the lineup tonight, after he missed Thursday’s game. Sounded yesterday like he’d be good to go, but he’s still not feeling well enough to play, so he won’t tonight. With that, would expect that Jeff Malott retains his spot in the lineup, with Moore and defenseman Jacob Moverare not playing tonight.
WILD VITALS: Minnesota is on the back end of a back-to-back set, after it skated to a 5-2 win over Anaheim last night.
Here’s how the visitors lined up last time out in Anaheim –
Wild lines vs Ducks:
Kaprizov – Yurov -Zuccarello
Johansson -Eriksson Ek – Boldy
Tarasenko -Hartman -Hinostroza
Foligno – Sturm – Trenin
Hughes -Faber
Brodin – Spurgeon
Middleton – Bogosian
Gustavsson
Wallstedt
Injured: Hunt
Scratched: Jones, Kierstad, Pitlick#mnwild
— 32 Hockey Updates (@32HockeyUpdates) January 2, 2026
Forward Vladimir Tarasenko led the Wild with two assists when these teams met in Minnesota earlier this season. Split between four different teams, Tarasenko has eight assists and 10 points over his last eight games played versus Los Angeles. The Kings will get their first look at defenseman Quinn Hughes today as a member of the Wild. Hughes has collected 18 career points (3-15-18) in 19 games played versus the Kings.
Storyline Of The Day – Where Do We Go From Here
Probably the worst loss of the season last time out for the LA Kings.
Everyone knew it.
“Unacceptable to come out losing that game like we did.”
“We just gave it away at the end.”
“We should have won that game, we need to win that game.”
Jim Hiller said it was the most disappointed the team has been after a game this season. And it certainly should be. Could feel that in the room as well, both after the game and even the following day at practice. The Kings led 3-2 with inside four minutes to play and came away from that game with zero points. Giving up goals 1:38 apart turned 3-2 for into 4-3 against. Felt like it was quicker than you could blink. In a span of 98 seconds, what was a relatively well-played game by the Kings until that point turned into as ugly of a defeat as the Kings have had to this point. 98 seconds. All it took to go from a statement win to a devastating defeat.
There have been far worse 60-minute showings. The Kings played well in the bigger picture on Thursday. But that’s why the loss to Tampa Bay was that much worse. This team is now 2-6-2 in its last ten games. When you play well and lose, especially as late as the Kings threw that game away, it’s just hard to take.
“It was a game that we should have won,” forward Adrian Kempe said. “Everybody was frustrated that game slipped away from us. We’re up 3-2, that’s a game we’ve got to close out. Unacceptable to come out losing that game.”
The loss has left the Kings with a lot of different emotions. Kempe calling the game unacceptable is not something you usually hear from him, as a more reserved leader. This is a team that prides itself on being able to win one-goal games. On being able to close out games. They did not do that against the Lightning.
Within the room, the emotions were that of anger and frustration.
“We’re not upset with each other, we’re just upset as a group,” defenseman Brandt Clarke said. “That happened to us. Everyone wants to take another step. Everyone wants to get to that level we know we can. I’m excited for tonight. I’m excited for what everyone will show tonight.”
Clarke’s answer brings me the question that I’ve found myself thinking about.
It’s one thing to be mad, frustrated, disappointed, whatever you want to call it. They should be after that game. In another answer, Clarke used the same word as Kempe – unacceptable. The Kings know that Thursday was an awful game to lose.
The question, though, is what do you do with it? Do you wallow and likely continue to lose? Or can you use those emotions to help right the ship.
“It’s just about getting up and trying to get better and being better and you can’t wallow in it,” Hiller said. “That’s the one thing I know all of us have done at different times. Get yourself out of it, all you can do. Comes down to the individual and then, of course, makes the team stronger.”
I’ll tell you what. The Kings better start to do those kinds of things, because as you look at the standings today, the margin for error that was there is gone.
Hiller said that in a team meeting yesterday, the team discussed where they’re at in the standings. They don’t typically go that route, usually the players know it, but right now, they Kings are below a line they haven’t been below in some time. Hiller didn’t get into the specifics of the meeting, but any talk of “well, we’re in a playoff spot” should be gone.
When the puck drops tonight, the Kings find themselves outside of the playoff picture looking in. They’re a full two points out of a wild card spot, four out of third in the Pacific and five away from the division lead. Those numbers aren’t that bad. That’s a good weekend away from flipping. What should be scary is that the Kings are also one point clear of 13th in the Western Conference. That’s a bad weekend from having five teams between you and a wild-card spot. By not taking care of business against a friendly schedule over the last six weeks, the Kings have now put themselves in a position of needing to win games against top-caliber teams, including these next two versus Minnesota. Time to go, without much to fall back on if not.
3 To Watch For –
– If there’s a bright spot from recent games it’s got to be the power play.
The Kings have scored a power-play goal in all three games coming out of the break, including two against Tampa Bay on Thursday. All four goals have come from the unit with Brandt Clarke up top, Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko beside him and Corey Perry and Quinton Byfield operating lower in the zone.
“It’s really the one unit, I think they’re dangerous, they’re feeling good and it’s amazing what can happen when you start feeling good,” Hiller said of that group. “They’re all part of it right now. For me, they started moving the puck well, had some success and they’ve built on it. We need to get the other unit kind of in that frame of mind and have them [find] success, but they’re playing second fiddle right now to the unit that’s scoring.”
It’s a group of five that seems to have all sorted out their roles right now and it’s turning into goals.
“We’ve got good skill in all five of us, we know Perrs is at the net, we know Q is good down low and then me, Kuzy and Kev are working the top, it’s good,” Clarke said. “I think we can [attack] from both sides, we’re funneling pucks to the net well, we’re collapsing on loose pucks and we’re going all the right things right now……we’ve just got to keep that going.”
The Kings made some drastic changes a few games back and with them came a mandate – score and you’ll play. That unit has outscored the other unit 4-0 over the last three games, so that’s the unit that will start power plays right now. Against the Lightning, they played more than double the icetime and scored twice. They’ve earned the bulk of the minutes and will get them, as long as they continue to score.
– Moore’s absence tonight means that Jeff Malott will get another game that he deserves to play.
“We’ve been really happy with his play,” Hiller said of Malott. “He took it right from preseason, I guess you take him from the end of last year, he kind of showed us a little bit of a flare, everybody talked about him a little bit, great preseason. He’s done everything we’ve asked of him, it’s just been hard to get him in the lineup consistently. He’s somebody that helps us.”
The issue right now with getting Malott in is that the Kings only have four centers. You could really shuffle the lineup and move Alex Laferriere back into the middle, but then you’re breaking up three lines. Malott deserves to play, though. So, while it comes here on account of Moore’s illness, not being ready to go, Malott deserves to play. He’ll get another chance tonight.
– Lastly, a small World Juniors update.
The Kings had six prospects enter the quarterfinals and saw four of those players advance to the semifinals.
Forward Vojtech Cihar has led the way among Kings prospects, as he is currently tied for first in the tournament with seven assists. Cihar collected two more helpers in Czechia’s win over Switzerland to help his team advance to tomorrow’s semifinals.
Through the quarterfinals, @LAKings prospect Vojtech Cihar now leads the World Juniors with seven assists. One shy of the tournament lead in points as well!
Czechia has two games remaining, beginning with a semifinal matchup tomorrow against Canada. https://t.co/3Zfh1CYP8f pic.twitter.com/z8ZX6fiWco
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) January 3, 2026
Goaltender Petteri Rimpinen also advanced with a strong showing in net for Finland, eliminating the United States, while Canadians Liam Greentree and Carter George also advanced, though they did not play in a win over Slovakia.
The tournament ends for forwards Brendan McMorrow and Jan Chovan. McMorrow showed well, with four points (1-3-4) in five games played, while Chovan scored his first goal of the tournament in yesterday’s defeat against Canada.
The semifinals will be played tomorrow, followed by the gold and bronze-medal games on Monday evening.
Kings and Wild, first of two games here between the two teams over the next three nights. 6 PM start time in Downtown Los Angeles.