10/13 Preview – Optional Skate vs. Wild + Limiting Penalties, Top-End Production, Kopitar’s Continued Consistency

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (1-2-0) @ Minnesota Wild (1-1-0)
WHAT: 2025 Regular-Season Game 4/82
WHEN: Monday, October 13 @ 5:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Grand Casino Arena – St. Paul, MN
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FanDuel Sports Network – AUDIO – ESPN LA 710, ESPN LA App & LA Kings App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Kings return to action this evening against the Minnesota Wild, as they conclude a short, two-game roadtrip.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Trevor Moore led the Kings last season with four points (2-2-4) from three games played against Minnesota, while the trio of Adrian Kempe (2-1-3), Kevin Fiala (1-2-3) and Alex Laferriere (1-2-3) each had three points in the three games played. Moore also posted a +4 rating and has seven points in total from his last six games played versus the Wild.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings are expected to make a few lineup changes for tonight’s game against Minnesota.

Not expecting those changes to include the goaltender, however. Darcy Kuemper was not on the ice this morning, which would point to him being in line to make his third start of the season tonight against Minnesota. Kuemper, a Minnesota draft pick in 2009, has a lifetime record of 5-7-1 against the Wild, with a .905 save percentage and a 2.76 goals-against average.

The Kings ran an optional morning skate today but based on yesterday’s practice, here’s what could be expected against the Wild –

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

Dumoulin – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Anderson – Ceci

Kuemper
Forsberg

No guarantees here, but this is what we saw in yesterday’s practice. On top of the defensive changes, looking like Joel Armia could play with Quinton Byfield and Kevin Fiala, after he was moved onto that line during Saturday’s game in Winnipeg, which moves Alex Laferriere onto the fourth line with Alex Turcotte and Jeff Malott.

WILD VITALS: Minnesota posted a……well, WILD, stat line last time out against Columbus. The Wild totaled 52 shots on goal, scored four power-play goals, and lost. By three goals. Pretty crazy game.

Per Minnesota Wild PR, here’s how the hosts lined up last time out –

Projected lines for tonight's matchup between the #mnwild and Columbus Blue Jackets at Grand Casino Arena.

Puck drop next on @FanDuelSN_NOR and @kool108radio. pic.twitter.com/yg0gz9b1KE

— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) October 11, 2025

Minnesota winger Kirill Kaprizov is one of six players in the NHL with double-digit goals against the Kings over the last five seasons. Kaprizov has found the back of the net 10 times against the Kings in 19 games, tied for the fourth-most in the NHL. Kaprizov signed the largest contract in NHL history earlier this month, committing his future to the Wild for the next eight seasons.

Storyline Of The Day – Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
So the Kings are probably making some personnel changes.

At yesterday’s practice the Kings swapped Mikey Anderson and Brian Dumoulin, with Dumoulin expected to partner Drew Doughty and Anderson moving alongside Cody Ceci. Up front, it looks like Joel Armia and Alex Laferriere will be swapped as well, continuing a change we saw made during Saturday’s 3-2 defeat in Winnipeg.

The easier to explain is Armia, who has been a bright spot early in the season, with Jim Hiller calling him an “important addition for the Kings. He was quite effective on the penalty kill on Saturday and that’s part of his game that’s well known. His simple style at 5-on-5 seems to mesh with Fiala and Byfield. He hasn’t buried one yet, after his goal in Vegas was changed to Jeff Malott, but only Andrei Kuzmenko has more scoring chances at 5-on-5 than Armia, who has six through three games. On a per/60 basis, factoring in Armia’s usual fourth-line usage, he leads the team in that area.

Laferriere, who missed a small amount of with an injury late in the preseason, hasn’t found the scoresheet yet this season but I think Armia’s play is more the driver here. Perhaps, though, moving back with Alex Turcotte could help get Laferriere going. In a small sample size, I thought they played well together last season. Laferriere will be back in the Top-9 at some point, probably on the sooner side, and the Kings will need him at the level he was at last season. He’s an important player. For now, though, we’ll see a change that the Kings hope can boost the group just a bit.

On the blueline, a more detailed report HERE from yesterday, but early in the season, the Kings have been below their standards defensively as a group. Too many chances from the slot and high-danger areas, predominantly centered around top-line opposition.

A lot of attention paid to the third pairing in those three games and rightfully so, with five goals allowed in total and possession metrics that were less than favorable. In making these changes, I think the Kings have their best three puck movers now on three separate pairings. Clarke and Doughty are obvious and I’d have Mikey Anderson next in line. Jim Hiller and the staff hope that by switching up the pairs a bit, they can get more consistent defensive results, especially against top-end players. More on that specifically below.

It’s not all personnel based and there has to be better execution in the defensive zone, both in terms of coverage, shot suppression and breakouts. The Kings are towards the top of the league in certain defensive metrics, specifically looking at breaking up passes and defensive zone denials, but towards the bottom in areas like breakouts and chances against from the slot. Things the Kings have worked on in practices and seem to be points of emphasis for a club that was lockdown defensively last season. See if today’s changes can help a bit in those areas.

3 To Watch For –
– Cutting down on the minor penalties is definitely an emphasis for the Kings today.

The Kings have been shorthanded 16 times in three games, second-most in the NHL in the early stages of the season.

In Winnipeg, a slow start led to three minor penalties in the opening period, which set the Kings back a goal before they got their legs going.

“We haven’t done ourselves too many favors with giving up early power plays, especially their top guys, feeling the puck, I think discipline is something that we have to correct,” Dumoulin said. “Against these top power plays, but we’re asking a lot more. It takes guys out of thge rhythm of the game, it just gets them feeling the puck, getting a lot of shots and a lot of opportunities. Penalties are critical.”

Hiller agreed with Dumoulin’s assessment, noting that the Kings are known as a team that denies the puck quite a bit. Give top-end skill players free opportunities early and it sets them up all night.

“Those guys go in and they think it’s LA, we’re not going to get the puck a lot and then all of a sudden, they get to move it around on the power play, you get feeling good about yourself, your confidence,” he added. “It’s a funny thing in a game, talking about a player’s confidence, week-to-week, game-to-game, period-to-period, shift-to-shift. Sometimes, you start feeling good and all of a sudden, everything happens and it’s just a little bit easier for you.”

– What have the minor penalties led to?

Production from those top-end players.

Looking around the NHL, of the league’s 12 leading scorers entering yesterday, six were from Colorado, Vegas or Winnipeg and all six had a multi-point game versus the Kings. I think that factors in a but to what Dumoulin and Hiller have talked about, things the Kings have targeted to work on. The early power plays have helped those players get into the feel of a game early. The Kings gave up a power-play goal in all three games so far this season but they’ve also been tagged at even strength. In some ways, elite players are going to produce, but the Kings feel they can do better in some areas also.

“That’s on us, we’ve got to fix that,” Hiller ended with yesterday, when talking about top-line production of other teams.

He added that he felt it was often an area the Kings did better than most in last season. A focal point to watch tonight against Kirill Kaprizov and Minnesota’s other top players.

– Lastly: The only Kings player with points in all three games this season?

Should’ve known. It’s Anze Kopitar.

I thought Kopitar and his line had their best game of the season in Winnipeg. It’s easy to say that when they were on the ice for both goals scored by the Kings, but beyond that, I thought they were the team’s most impactful line all game.

19-7 advantage in shot attempts, 10-2 lead in shots on goal, 11-2 in scoring chances and 7-0 in high-danger chances. All resulted in two goals for, none against. Pretty good day’s work and a really strong showing from those three.

Kings and Wild tonight at 5 PM Pacific time before the team returns home to Los Angeles for two at Crypto.com Arena.