WHO: Los Angeles Kings (19-15-10) vs. Dallas Stars (26-10-9)
WHAT: 2025 Regular-Season Game 45/82
WHEN: Monday, January 12 @ 7:00 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 return home to begin a three-game homestand and a stretch of five consecutive games in Southern California as they host the Dallas Stars tonight at Crypto.com Arena.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Quinton Byfield leads his team with two assists against Dallas this season, both coming in a 3-2 overtime victory against the Stars back in October. Forward Adrian Kempe scored the game-winning goal against the Stars in that game, off Byfield’s assist, as a part of a multi-point game.
KINGS VITALS: After a full team off day yesterday, the Kings returned to the ice this morning at home for a mandatory morning skate at Toyota Sports Performance Center.
Goaltender Darcy Kuemper was off the ice first this morning, making him tonight’s projected starter between the pipes. Kuemper has 10 career wins against the Stars, tied for his fourth-most against any one opponent, and he brings a .912 lifetime save percentage versus Dallas into tonight’s action.
Here’s is tonight’s expected Kings alignment, based on what we saw in today’s morning skate –
Malott – Laferriere – Kempe
Foegele – Byfield – Perry
Fiala – Turcotte – Kuzmenko
Lee – Helenius – Ward
Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci
Kuemper
Forsberg
Appears to be the same group we saw against Edmonton on Saturday. Forwards Anze Kopitar, Joel Armia and Trevor Moore remain out with injuries, while defenseman Jacob Moverare the lone projected healthy scratch in tonight’s game.
STARS VITALS: Dallas is currently in its poorest form of the season, entering tonight’s action with a record of 1-3-4 over its last eight games played.
Per Mike Heika of DallasStars.com, here’s how the visitors lined up on Saturday in San Jose –
— Mike Heika (@MikeHeika) January 10, 2026
Dallas forward Wyatt Johnston leads his team with four points (2-2-4) in two games played against the Kings this season, as he collected a goal and an assist in each game. Johnston has scored seven goals in his last eight games versus Los Angeles and leads the Stars with ten points over the last three seasons. Johnston is one of four Dallas players at a point-per-game pace or better over that span, also including Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Matt Duchene.
Storyline Of The Day – A Perry Nice Return
– The Kings welcomed back forward Corey Perry on Saturday in Edmonton. Right off the bat, a big addition for the Kings.
“I think it just gave everybody a boost,” Jim Hiller said of Perry. “I think the way Corey prepares, his presence in the dressing room, whether he’s extremely vocal on a particular evening or not, I know I feel better and I’m sure the players do as well.”
First things first, Perry just has a presence to him that his teammates feel.
With four players out the game prior, including Perry, the Kings were really relying on their veteran players. Having Perry back in the lineup was something that was felt within the room from a presence standpoint.
“Just his presence in the room, on the bench, his intangibles,” forward Warren Foegele said. “He’s a super smart player, really good in front of the net and we saw that on the power play.”
On the ice, Perry picked up right where he left off offensively.
Since the NHL resumed play following the holiday break, Perry is tied for the team lead with seven points from eight games played. Five of those points have come on the power play, where Perry has been one of the biggest driving forces between a unit that has really improved over the last couple weeks.
With his three power-play goals and five power-play points, Perry is one shy of the league lead in both categories. Like Foegele did, several other players have pointed to his netfront presence as a real bonus when it comes to the man advantage and it has perhaps encouraged the Kings to get more pucks into that area, quicker than they did earlier in the season.
“I think he’s the best in the world two feet from the net,” defenseman Brandt Clarke said of Perry. “He was the first one to see that puck pop out, he’s the reason it popped out, just his presence in front of the net, taking eyes away and stuff like that. He’s huge for us and we just want to get it down to him as much as we can, because that’s when we know we can capitalize.”
Saw that for sure on his goal against the Oilers, as a nice low shot from Clarke produced a rebound and Perry pounced on it for the goal.
In those situations, lots of guys are able to get to the net but not everyone gets pucks to sit for him the way that Perry does. He just has that ability. On the power play in particular, you really see it in the way that he produces, with just about every goal he’s scored coming from that area.
“You take his on-ice performance, he just scored,” Hiller added. “All these shot attempts, traffic at the net, some guys, they deflect them or the puck bounces and it just lands there for them and [it does that] more often than not for Corey, as you see. Corey’s got a way, he finds loose pucks and puts them in the back of the net.”
With his tally against the Oilers, Perry became the fourth Kings player this season to hit double-digit goals and trails only Adrian Kempe, Kevin Fiala and Alex Laferriere in that department this season. With a couple players out, Perry played higher in the lineup on Saturday and is expected to do so again tonight versus Dallas, as he took rushes this morning with Foegele and forward Quinton Byfield. They’ll look to build on Saturday’s win against another top opponent in Dallas.
3 To Watch For –
– For your regularly-scheduled update on injuries, here’s what we know as of this morning.
Forward Trevor Moore was on the ice before the team, skating on his own. Not expected to play tonight and he remains on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Moore has skated fairly continuously while he’s been out of action, but until he’s feeling 100 percent ready to go, he won’t be available for the Kings.
With Joel Armia and Anze Kopitar, neither player skated today. Kopitar was formally ruled out for tonight when he was placed on injured reserve on Saturday, though he would be eligible to return at any time. Armia is still on the active roster and can return when he is ready, without any sort of corresponding moves, but he is still off the ice with an upper-body injury.
Hiller reiterated that all three players remain day-to-day but there isn’t a firm timeline to return for any of the three.
– Liked this quote from Brandt Clarke this morning.
He was asked about his usage and icetime after today’s morning skate and said he feels he is ready to take on more minutes, if that’s what he’s asked to do, but is happy here as long as the team is winning. I followed up, because I felt that his floor is much higher than it was last season, meaning that even in games he’s not playing 22 minutes, he’s also not playing 14. Here was his answer –
“Yeah, I think what brought me down last year is when top lines went out there, I don’t want to say they sheltered me, but it was almost like, okay, we need, we need our other guys out there. This year, it doesn’t matter if it’s McDavid, MacKinnon or whoever, I feel confident there, and from what I’ve noticed, they feel confident with me out there, too. I’m happy with my play in my own end, that’s what comes first and foremost to me. I want to shut them down, I want to keep pucks out of our net and then capitalize when I can. I think I’ve been doing a good job of it.”
Clarke’s play has merited more minutes, in my opinion, and I would agree that there is clearly more trust being shown in him against all opponents. When the Kings are trailing, he’s almost always a lock for 20+ minutes. When the Kings aren’t leading, he’s been given more minutes than he was last season, even if there is still more for him to claim. He’s ready for more, when the time comes, and is deserving of that added trust for sure.
– Lastly, one last call for LAKI Night on Wednesday!
Putting in the final headcount at the end of the day today, so if there are any stragglers, let me know by EOD and I can still accommodate you! As a reminder, the cost is $56 per ticket and we will be in the Sky Bar at Crypto.com Arena as the Kings take on Vegas at 7 PM!
zdooley@lakings.com for those who might want to attend!
Kings and Stars, a 7 PM puck drop in Downtown Los Angeles! Good test for the Kings to begin another extended stretch here in Southern California.
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