LOS ANGELES KINGS NOTES:
FEB. 21 vs. Minnesota Wild – 7:00 PM MT (5:00 PM PT) // Venue: Xcel Energy Center // TV: Bally Sports West // Radio: iHeartRadio
- The LA Kings visit the Minnesota Wild for the third, and final, meeting between these two clubs this season (7-6 W on Oct. 15; 1-0 W on Nov. 8)
- The Kings aim to sweep the season series over the Wild for the third time in franchise history (4-0-0 in 2008-09; 3-0-0 in 2017-18).
- Tonight’s game marks the first of the of team’s five-game road trip (Feb. 23 at NJD; Feb. 24 at NYI; Feb. 26 at NYR; Feb. 28 at WPG).
WARM-UPS
1) The Kings have points in three of their last four games against the Wild, dating back to Dec. 11, 2021 (3-1-0).
2) Blake Lizotte skates into Xcel Energy Center riding a three-game point streak (2-3=5) and can extend it into a career-long fourth game with a point tonight.
3) Viktor Arvidsson and Drew Doughty each lead the team with eight road power-play points on the year.
4) The Kings have points in 12 of their 16 games against Central Division opponents this season (10-4-2).
5) This past Saturday vs. Arizona, the Kings scored five goals in the first period for the 15th time in franchise history, and the first since Nov. 13 2005 against Columbus. It is also a season-high for goals in a single period this season.
vs. MINNESOTA ALL-TIME:
All-Time Record: 36-27-5-13
Home: 21-12-2-6
Away: 15-15-3-7
OT: 10-13 (5 ties)
Shootout: 4-6
2021-22: 1-2-0
2022-23: 2-0-0
FRANCHISE LEADERS vs. MINNESOTA:
Anze Kopitar* – 61 GP, 53 PTS (15-38=53)
Dustin Brown – 60 GP, 34 PTS (18-16=34)
Drew Doughty* – 51 GP, 34 PTS (7-27=34)
Jeff Carter – 30 GP, 25 PTS (11-14=25)
Justin Williams – 19 GP, 15 PTS (7-8=15)
*-denotes active roster player
LAST MEETING vs. MINNESOTA: Nov. 8, 2022 – LAK 1 at MIN 0
Venue: Crypto.com Arena
LAK Goals: Vilardi (10)
MIN Goals: n/a
Goalies: LAK: Quick (W; 21 saves – 21 shots) MIN: Fleury (L; 29 saves – 30 shots)
LAK PP: 0-for-4
LAK PK: 1-for-1
THE NEXT THREE:
Thurs., Feb. 23 | at New Jersey Devils | 7:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. PT) | Bally Sports West | LA Kings iHeart Radio Audio Network
The Kings will start their ninth set of back-to-backs in New Jersey before traveling to Long Island to face the Islanders on Feb. 24.
Fri., Feb. 24 | at New York Islanders | 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. PT) | Bally Sports West | LA Kings iHeart Radio Audio Network
The Kings have won three of their last four against the Islanders (3-1-0).
Sun., Feb. 26 | at New York Rangers | 5:00 p.m. ET (2:00 p.m. PT) | Bally Sports West | LA Kings iHeart Radio Audio Network
Anze Kopitar has 23 points (9-14=23) in 24 career games against the Rangers for a 0.96 points-per-game average vs. the Rangers, the seventh highest among active skaters.
INJURY & MGL REPORT
Player, Games Missed, Date(s), Status
F Alex Iafallo, 23 games, Oct. 18 – Dec. 3 (lower-body)
F Brendan Lemieux, 18 games, Nov. 14 – Dec. 20 (lower-body)
F Arthur Kaliyev, 18 games, Dec. 22 – Jan. 31 (lower-body)
F Trevor Moore, 16 games, Dec. 27 – Jan. 31 (upper-body)
F Carl Grundstrom, 11 games, Jan. 19 – Pres. (lower-body)
F Gabriel Vilardi, 10 games, Nov. 27 (lower-body); Jan. 19 – Feb. 13 (undisclosed)
F Quinton Byfield, 6 games, Oct. 27 – Nov. 5 (illness)
F Viktor Arvidsson, 3 games, Oct. 13 (illness); Oct. 25 (illness); Jan. 11 (illness)
D Sean Durzi, 2 games, Nov. 19 – Nov. 22. (lower-body)
D Drew Doughty, 1 game, Dec. 11 (lower-body)
2022-23 Total Regular-Season Man-Games Lost: 108
RECENT TRANSACTIONS (as of 2/20/23)
Feb. 10 – Pheonix Copley (G) re-signed to a one-year contract extension with an AAV of $1.5M
Feb. 11 – Trevor Moore (F) and Arthur Kaliyev (F) activated off injured reserve. Jacob Moverare (D) recalled from Ontario (AHL).
Feb. 12 – Jacob Moverare (D) loaned to Ontario (AHL).
Feb. 13 – Tobie Bisson (D) recalled from Ontario (AHL).
Feb. 14 – Tobie Bisson (D) loaned to Ontario (AHL).
Feb. 15 – Mikey Anderson (D) signed to an eight-year contract extension with an AAV of $4.125M.
Feb. 17 – Tobias Bjornfot (D) recalled from Ontario (AHL).
MINNESOTA WILD NOTES:
SERIES NOTES
GAME BROADCASTS
LOS ANGELES KINGS
All-Time Wild Record: 40-26-15 (22-10-8 at Xcel Energy Center, 18-16-7 at Los Angeles)
2022-23: The Wild is 0-2-0 against Los Angeles this season…Minnesota fell 7-6 to Los Angeles at Xcel Energy Center on Oct. 15 and 1-0 at Crypto.com Arena on Nov. 8…RW Mats Zuccarello leads the Wild with three points (1-2=3)…LW Kirill Kaprizov (1-1=2) and C Joel Eriksson Ek (1-1=2) have two points each…G Marc-Andre Fluery has started both contests for Minnesota and recorded a 3.84 GAA and a .886 SV%, while G Filip Gustavsson has a 4.70 GAA and .850 SV% after appearing in relief during the first game…C Anze Kopitar leads Los Angeles with four points (0-4=4)…LW Kevin Fiala (1-2=3), C Adrian Kemp (2-1=3) and C Gabriel Vilardi (2-1=3) have each tallied two points…G Cal Petersen started the first contest for the Kings and posted a 6.00 GAA and .829 SV%, while G Jonathan Quick started the second game and stopped all 21 shots faced.
WILD LEADERS: D Alex Goligoski leads Minnesota with 29 points (4-25=29) in 52 games vs. Los Angeles…Zuccarello owns 17 points (5-12=17) in 26 contests…D Matt Dumba has 13 points (5-6=1) in 28 games…Kaprizov has 13 points (8-5=13) in 13 games…D Jared Spurgeon has 13 points (4-9=13) in 38 games.
WILD GOALIES: Fleury is 12-9-4 with a 2.58 GAA, a .916 SV% and three shutouts in 26 career starts against the Kings…Gustavsson is 0-3-0 with a 3.10 GAA and a .913 SV% in three games (two starts).
KINGS LEADERS: Kopitar leads Los Angeles with 53 points (15-38=53) in 61 games vs. Minnesota…D Drew Doughty owns 34 points (7-27=34) in 51 contests…D Alexander Edler has 24 points (4-20=24) in 52 games…RW Viktor Arvidsson has 12 points (5-7=12) in 23 contests.
KINGS GOALIES: Quick is 17-11-7 with a 2.55 GAA, a .904 SV% and two shutouts in 35 career starts against the Wild…G Pheonix Copley is 1-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA and a .929 SV% after one start against Minnesota.
FAST FACTS: Minnesota is 17-8-4 in the last 29 games vs. Los Angeles with 15 of the games decided by one goal…The Wild is 21-6-5 in the last 32 contests played at Xcel Energy Center…Minnesota owns points in 11 of its last 18 games at Crypto.com Arena (8-7-3).
HOME SWEET HOME
• Dating back to Nov. 19th, Minnesota is 16-5-1 at home for a .750 point percentage, the fifth-best rate in the NHL during that span.
• The Wild recorded an seven-game home win streak from Nov. 27 – Dec. 18, the fourth-longest home win streak in the NHL this season.
• Minnesota is sixth in the NHL with 18 home victories this season.
• In home games since Nov. 19, the Wild is recording a 2.23 goals against average (GAA) and .920 save percentage (SV%). in that span, Minnesota ranks second in the NHL in home GAA and tied for third in home SV%.
ON THE POWER PLAY
• The Wild have converted 29.4 percent (27 of 92) of power-play opportunities at home this season, third-best in the NHL.
• Since Jan. 19, Minnesota ranks first in the NHL with 12 power-play goals. Minnesota is 12-for-43 (27.9%) with the man advantage during that span, scoring a power-play goal in 11 of 13 contests.
PENALTY KILLERS
• The Wild has killed 20 consecutive shorthanded situations and have not allowed a power-play goal in a season-high seven consecutive games dating back to Feb. 8 at DAL.
• For the season, the Wild is tied for sixth in the NHL with a 81.7 penalty-kill percentage (152 for 186).
• Since Nov. 8, Minnesota is third in the NHL with a 83.6 penalty-kill percentage (127 for 152).
• Minnesota is sixth in the NHL with a 82.1 penalty-kill percentage (78 of 95) on the road this season.
