Kings vs Lightning Game 52: Lines, Notes & How to Watch

The Los Angeles Kings (28-17-6) will look to extend their win streak to four games Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning (31-15-1).

The Kings aren't on the prettiest of three-game win streaks and will need to be better than they were last night against the Lightning.

The Lightning are coming off back-to-back wins, including a victory over the league-leading Boston Bruins on Thursday. Led by superstars like Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point and Victor Hedman, the Kings are in for a difficult night.  The game will become more difficult if they get into penalty trouble again.

They got away with taking five penalties against the Panthers Friday, but shouldn't expect that to work again Saturday.

With no morning skate, there isn't any indication of lineup changes. So, the only change we'll expect is Jonathan Quick in for Pheonix Copley.

Expected Los Angeles Kings Lines:

Quinton Byfield-Anze Kopitar-Adrian Kempe

Alex Iafallo-Phil Danault-Viktor Arvidsson

Kevin Fiala -Blake Lizotte-Jaret Anderson-Dolan

Rasmus Kupari-Alex Turcotte-Samuel Fagemo/Brendan Lemieux

Defense:

Mikey Anderson-Drew Doughty

Sean Durzi-Matt Roy

Alex Edler-Sean Walker

Goalies:

Jonathan Quick

Pheonix Copley

Expected Tampa Bay Lightning Lines:

Brandon Hagel-Brayden Point-Nikita Kucherov

Anthony Cirelli-Steve Stamkos-Alex Killorn

Ross Colton-Nick Paul-Pat Maroon

Vladislav Namestnikov-Marc-Edouard Bellemare-Corey Perry

Defense:

Victor Hedman-Zach Bogosian

Ian Cole-Erik Cernak

Mikhail Sergachev-Cal Foote

Goalies:

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Brian Elliot

Special Teams:

Los Angeles Kings Power Play: 42-175, 24%, 10th in NHL

Los Angeles Kings Penalty Kill: 44-174, 74.71%, 24th in NHL

Tampa Bay Lightning Power Play: 44-163, 2nd in NHL, 26.99%

Tampa Bay Lightning Penalty Kill: 33-169, 80.65%, 13th in NHL

Los Angeles Kings Pregame Notes:

• Tonight marks the second game of the Kings’ seventh set of back-to-backs this season. Prior to this weekend, the team is 6-3-3 in back-to-backs (4-2-0 in the first game, 2-1-3 in the second).
• Quinton Byfield notched his 20th career NHL point with his assist on Kopitar’s first-period goal last night vs. the Panthers. Per NHL PR, Byfield (20 years, 161 days) is the second Kings player in the past 10 years to hit this mark at age 20 or younger (Arthur Kaliyev, 20 years and 253 days, March 6, 2021).
• Mikey Anderson picked up an assist last night for his 12th point of the campaign, establishing a new single-season career-high (1- 10=11 in 2020-21).
• Forward Rasmus Kupari skates into Amalie Arena one game shy of 100 in his career. He is set to become the 24th skater from the 2018 NHL Draft class to reach this mark.
• Only Carolina (6) has more shorthanded goals since Jan. 1, 2023 than the Kings (3).

How to Watch:

TV: Bally Sports West, ESPN+; Radio: iHeartRadio