{"id":386458,"date":"2026-01-04T01:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/386458\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T01:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:10:07","slug":"1-3-preview-rebounding-from-an-unacceptable-loss-channeling-anger-moore-out-malott-in-pp-continues-to-produce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/386458\/","title":{"rendered":"1\/3 Preview – Rebounding from an “unacceptable” loss + Channeling Anger, Moore out, Malott in, PP continues to produce"},"content":{"rendered":"

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 \u2013 Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FanDuel Sports Network \u2013 AUDIO \u2013 ESPN LA App & LA Kings App \u2013 TWITTER: @dooleylak<\/a> & @lakings<\/a><\/p>\n

TODAY\u2019S MATCHUP: The Kings begin the first of two consecutive games against the Minnesota Wild tonight at Crypto.com Arena. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

KINGS VITALS: Following a full-team practice yesterday, the Kings held a highly optional morning skate today at Toyota Sports Performance Center. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Expecting the same lineup tonight for the Kings, as confirmed by Head Coach Jim Hiller this morning \u2013 <\/p>\n

Tonight’s @LAKings<\/a> Line Rushes \u2013<\/p>\n

Laferriere \u2013 Kopitar \u2013 Kempe
Foegele \u2013 Byfield \u2013 Armia
Fiala \u2013 Turcotte \u2013 Kuzmenko
Malott \u2013 Helenius \u2013 Perry<\/p>\n

Anderson \u2013 Doughty
Edmundson \u2013 Clarke
Dumoulin \u2013 Ceci<\/p>\n

Kuemper
Forsberg<\/p>\n

As noted earlier, no Trevor Moore tonight due to illness.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) January 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Hiller also confirmed that Trevor Moore is not expected back in the lineup tonight, after he missed Thursday\u2019s game. Sounded yesterday like he\u2019d be good to go, but he\u2019s still not feeling well enough to play, so he won\u2019t tonight. With that, would expect that Jeff Malott retains his spot in the lineup, with Moore and defenseman Jacob Moverare not playing tonight.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the visitors lined up last time out in Anaheim \u2013<\/p>\n

Wild lines vs Ducks:<\/p>\n

Kaprizov \u2013 Yurov -Zuccarello
Johansson -Eriksson Ek \u2013 Boldy
Tarasenko -Hartman -Hinostroza
Foligno \u2013 Sturm \u2013 Trenin<\/p>\n

Hughes -Faber
Brodin \u2013 Spurgeon
Middleton \u2013 Bogosian<\/p>\n

Gustavsson
Wallstedt<\/p>\n

Injured: Hunt
Scratched: Jones, Kierstad, Pitlick#mnwild<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 32 Hockey Updates (@32HockeyUpdates) January 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Storyline Of The Day \u2013 Where Do We Go From Here
Probably the worst loss of the season last time out for the LA Kings. <\/p>\n

Everyone knew it.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnacceptable to come out losing that game like we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just gave it away at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should have won that game, we need to win that game.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

There have been far worse 60-minute showings. The Kings played well in the bigger picture on Thursday. But that\u2019s 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\u2019s just hard to take. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a game that we should have won,\u201d forward Adrian Kempe said. \u201cEverybody was frustrated that game slipped away from us. We\u2019re up 3-2, that\u2019s a game we\u2019ve got to close out. Unacceptable to come out losing that game.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Within the room, the emotions were that of anger and frustration. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not upset with each other, we\u2019re just upset as a group,\u201d defenseman Brandt Clarke said. \u201cThat happened to us. Everyone wants to take another step. Everyone wants to get to that level we know we can. I\u2019m excited for tonight. I\u2019m excited for what everyone will show tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clarke\u2019s answer brings me the question that I\u2019ve found myself thinking about. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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 \u2013 unacceptable. The Kings know that Thursday was an awful game to lose. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just about getting up and trying to get better and being better and you can\u2019t wallow in it,\u201d Hiller said. \u201cThat\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll 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.<\/p>\n

Hiller said that in a team meeting yesterday, the team discussed where they\u2019re at in the standings. They don\u2019t typically go that route, usually the players know it, but right now, they Kings are below a line they haven\u2019t been below in some time. Hiller didn\u2019t get into the specifics of the meeting, but any talk of \u201cwell, we\u2019re in a playoff spot\u201d should be gone. <\/p>\n

When the puck drops tonight, the Kings find themselves outside of the playoff picture looking in. They\u2019re 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\u2019t that bad. That\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

3 To Watch For \u2013
\u2013 If there\u2019s a bright spot from recent games it\u2019s got to be the power play.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really the one unit, I think they\u2019re dangerous, they\u2019re feeling good and it\u2019s amazing what can happen when you start feeling good,\u201d Hiller said of that group. \u201cThey\u2019re all part of it right now. For me, they started moving the puck well, had some success and they\u2019ve built on it. We need to get the other unit kind of in that frame of mind and have them [find] success, but they\u2019re playing second fiddle right now to the unit that\u2019s scoring.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a group of five that seems to have all sorted out their roles right now and it\u2019s turning into goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve 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\u2019s good,\u201d Clarke said. \u201cI think we can [attack] from both sides, we\u2019re funneling pucks to the net well, we\u2019re collapsing on loose pucks and we\u2019re going all the right things right now\u2026\u2026we\u2019ve just got to keep that going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kings made some drastic changes a few games back and with them came a mandate \u2013 score and you\u2019ll play. That unit has outscored the other unit 4-0 over the last three games, so that\u2019s the unit that will start power plays right now. Against the Lightning, they played more than double the icetime and scored twice. They\u2019ve earned the bulk of the minutes and will get them, as long as they continue to score. <\/p>\n

\u2013 Moore\u2019s absence tonight means that Jeff Malott will get another game that he deserves to play. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been really happy with his play,\u201d Hiller said of Malott. \u201cHe 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\u2019s done everything we\u2019ve asked of him, it\u2019s just been hard to get him in the lineup consistently. He\u2019s somebody that helps us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019re breaking up three lines. Malott deserves to play, though. So, while it comes here on account of Moore\u2019s illness, not being ready to go, Malott deserves to play. He\u2019ll get another chance tonight.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Lastly, a small World Juniors update.<\/p>\n

The Kings had six prospects enter the quarterfinals and saw four of those players advance to the semifinals. <\/p>\n

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\u2019s win over Switzerland to help his team advance to tomorrow\u2019s semifinals. <\/p>\n

Through the quarterfinals, @LAKings<\/a> prospect Vojtech Cihar now leads the World Juniors with seven assists. One shy of the tournament lead in points as well!<\/p>\n

Czechia has two games remaining, beginning with a semifinal matchup tomorrow against Canada. https:\/\/t.co\/3Zfh1CYP8f<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/z8ZX6fiWco<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) January 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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\u2019s defeat against Canada.<\/p>\n

The semifinals will be played tomorrow, followed by the gold and bronze-medal games on Monday evening. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n