Wild Game Day number 27
Wild Record (13-10-3 29 pts)
Road Record (5-7-1)

Opponent: Los Angeles Kings (17-8-3 37 pts)
Home Record (7-5-2)

Site: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California

Time: 9:00PM CT

TV: NBC Sports Network (NBCSN)

Last season results:
10/16/15 Wild 1 @ Kings 2 (OT)
1/21/16 Wild 3 @ Kings 0
3/22/16 Kings 1 @ Wild 2

Last season results:
10/18 Kings 3 @ Wild 6
1/7 Wild 3 @ Kings 4(OT)
2/27 Kings 4 @ Wild 5

The Wild begin their three game road trip tonight against the Pacific Division leading Kings. The Kings are returning home after a very impressive 4-0 road trip that saw them win in Detroit, Washington, St. Louis, and Chicago, outscoring their opponents by a 16-5 margin in the four wins.

This has been a resurgence for the Kings after missing the playoffs a year ago. Former assistant coach, John Stevens was hired to replace Darryl Sutter behind the LA bench. Stevens, the former Flyers head coach, brought in a familiar face to his staff, Don Nachbaur. Stevens and Nachbaur have a long history, having both played together in the Flyer organization, as well serving in their respective roles with the Philadelphia Phantoms in the early 2000s. Nachbaur has 19 years of experience as a head coach in the Western League, and has a tremendous understanding of how to deal with the young players.

Anze Kopitar has returned to form under Stevens, and has already eclipsed the 12 goals he tallied in all of last season. Through the Kings 28 games Kopitar leads the team with 14 goals and 31 points. Kopitar is not the only King enjoying a revitalization as Dustin Brown has 11 goals and 23 points after averaging just over 29 points total over the last four seasons.

For the Wild they are still working on becoming a more complete team, one that can end the win one lose one trend that has been their story for most of this season.

Once again they will be without Jarred Spurgeon, which will put a big strain on the Wild defense that is anything but deep. Ryan Murphy has stepped in the last three games and played well and Nate Prosser was plucked off waivers from the Blues to add some more veteran presence. That said this unit is far from the stalwart D that teams have been used to seeing from the Wild in years past.

Defenseman do not grow on trees and replacing good defense is not easy in the NHL.

Christian Folin and Darcy Kuemper will face their former mates for the first time tonight, but for Kuemper that will be from his usual vantage point, as Jonathan Quick will get the start in goal.

The Wild lines will be the same as they were against St. Louis

Zucker Koivu Granlund
Foligno Staal Niederreiter
Winnik Coyle Stewart
Ennis Cullen Mitchell

Suter Dumba
Brodin Murphy
Reilly Prosser

Dubnyk
Stalock

The Wild have won two in a row after their two worst performances of the season. The wins are nice, but they still have a lot of work to be done. The forwards still need to get a better grasp on their responsibilities as they pertain to the overall defensive end of the rink.

The road is a good place to be as the game plan should be simplified a bit which should lend to a better team approach to puck protection and support.

This is the time that the Wild heated up a year ago, so no time like the present for the boys to get on a roll.

It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!

Follow me on Twitter @dwallace17

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