The Kings are still right in the middle of their playoff race as they host the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight. Unfortunately for the Kings, the Sharks play the Predators, meaning one team is guaranteed to reach 81 points tonight, and the Kings have to win to be tied for that wildcard spot. The Kings are coming off a 2-1 win over the St Louis Blues. The Leafs are coming off a 4-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks.

Projected Kings Lines

Here are the projected lines for the Kings tonight:

Artemi Panarin - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe

Trevor Moore - Quinton Byfield - Alex Laferriere

Joel Armia - Scott Laughton - Jared Wright

Mathieu Joseph - Samuel Helenius - Taylor Ward

Brian Dumoulin - Drew Doughty

Joel Edmundson - Brandt Clarke

Mikey Anderson - Cody Ceci

Anton Forsberg

Darcy Kuemper

Projected Leafs Lines

Here are the projected lines for the Leafs tonight:

Easton Cowan - John Tavares - William Nylander

Dakota Joshua - Max Domi - Nicholas Robertson

Matthew Knies - Bo Groulx - Matias Maccelli

Michael Pezzetta - Jacob Quillan - Steven Lorentz

Morgan Rielly - Philippe Myers

Jake McCabe - Brandon Carlo

Simon Benoit - Troy Stecher

Joseph Woll

Anthony Stolarz

Line Changes and Injuries

Neither the Leafs nor the Kings held a morning skate today. The Kings did not practice on Friday following their back-to-back games against the Blues and Predators. The Kings are without Alex Turcotte due to an undisclosed injury. The Leafs are likely to miss Ekman-Larsson in tonight's game as he was injured in the 4-1 loss against the San Jose Sharks.

Key Factors

The Kings vs. Predators game was a very good one for the Kings; while they lost in a shootout, they battled back from a 4-1 deficit and walked away with a point. In that game, the Kings found scoring from all levels. Adrian Kempe had 2 goals, Joel Armia had a goal and an assist, and Scott Laughton had a goal as well. This is what the Kings need to make the playoffs. This is also the first game for Scott Laughton against his former team since being traded at the deadline.

If the Kings can get that type of depth scoring in tonight's match-up, they will walk away with a win. The Kings' depth players are fully capable of stealing wins or points for the Kings, and tonight is a perfect time for them to play like they did on Thursday.

For the goaltending matchup, it looks like Anton Forsberg vs. Joseph Woll. Forsberg has put up solid numbers in his last 3 games, with his save percentage above .930. For Woll, he is coming off a 33-save performance in which he allowed 5, but his team did not do him any favours, as they put up only 13 shots in that game.

Overall, this is once again a must-win game for the Kings, especially when the 2 teams the Kings need to lose are playing each other today. My prediction for tonight's matchup is a 4-1 Kings win.

Simon Benoit

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