Kings Vs Capitals Game Preview: Kings Looking to Win Back To Back At Home

The LA Kings are hosting the Washington Capitals tonight, as both teams look to get a win in their first game in December. The Kings are coming off a 2-1 overtime win over the Vancouver Canucks, in which Adrian Kempe scored the overtime winner. The Capitals have been playing some of their best hockey this season, on a 4-game winning streak, and are looking for their 5th tonight. The Capitals are coming off a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders, in which Tom Wilson had a 2-goal night.

Projected Kings Lines

Here are the projected lines for the Kings tonight:

Joel Armia - Quinton Byfield - Kevin Fiala

Trevor Moore - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe

Alex Laferriere - Phillip Danault - Andrei Kuzmenko

Jeff Malott - Alex Turcotte - Corey Perry

Mikey Anderson - Joel Edmundson

Brian Dumoulin - Brandt Clarke

Jacob Moverare - Cody Ceci

Darcy Kuemper

Anton Forsberg

Projected Capitals Lines

Here are the projected lines for the Capitals tonight:

Anthony Beauvillier - Dylan Strome - Alex Ovechkin

Aliaksei Protas - Justin Sourdif - Tom Wilson

Brandon Duhaime - Connor McMichael - Ryan Leonard

Sonny Milano - Hendrix Lapierre - Ethen Frank

Martin Fehervary - John Carlson

Jakob Chychrun - Matt Roy

Rasmus Sandin - Trevor van Riemsdyk

Logan Thompson

Charlie Lindgren

Injuries and Lines

The Kings' new lines look different from what we saw in the Vancouver game. Joel Armia moves from the 3rd line to the 1st line and joins Byfield and Fiala. Kempe is now on the second line after playing on the top line in the last game, and he joins Moore and Kopitar. Kuzmenko is now the 3rd line right winger after he played left wing on the second line in the last game. Foegele and Doughty remain out with injuries. Darcy Kuemper starts in goal for the Kings tonight as he looks to continue his solid play against Ovechkin and the Caps.

For the Capitals, they will likely run the same lineup they used against the New York Islanders. The Capitals are still without Nic Dowd and Pierre-Luc Dubois, both out with injuries. Logan Thompson gets the nod for tonight's game as he looks to continue his incredible play so far this season.

Key Factors

The Kings are up against a very strong goalie in Logan Thompson. Thompson, in 18 games, has 11 wins and a 2.08 GAA and a .916 save percentage. He has been one of the top goalies in the NHL this season. Kuemper has also been extremely solid for the Kings this season, having 8 wins, a 2.39 GAA, and a .907 save percentage, so the goalie matchup tonight will be a strong one.

The Capitals have to be wary of Tom Wilson tonight, as not only does he throw his weight around, but he is also leading the Capitals in goals and points with 15 and 25, respectively. The Capitals' power play is also something the Kings will have to account for, as Alex Ovechkin is always lethal on the man advantage.

For the Kings, they will be looking for all 4 lines to be strong tonight as their depth could be the deciding factor in this game. Kempe and Fiala are the big guys in tonight's game, as Kempe leads the team in points and Fiala leads in goals. For the depth aspect, a key player to watch is Corey Perry, who has been very good for the Kings this season, with 13 points in 19 games.

If the Kings can create traffic, get constant shots, and apply pressure on Thompson, that could be the key to defeating the Washington Capitals. My prediction for the game tonight is a 3-2 win for the LA Kings.