Gamethread: Wild vs. Kings (7:00 p.m.)

The Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings are clashing tonight in St. Paul and while it is Kevin Fiala’s first trip back to the team where he fully blossomed into the top-tier winger he is currently, it means a little more for the Wild. It is a chance to earn the first win of the season after losing their season opener.

Projected Wild lineup

Kirill Kaprizov — Ryan Hartman — Mats Zuccarello
Tyson Jost — Joel Eriksson Ek — Marcus Foligno
Matt Boldy — Sam Steel — Frederick Gaudreau
Connor Dewar — Marco Rossi — Brandon Duhaime

Jake Middleton — Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin — Matt Dumba
Alex Goligoski — Calen Addison

Marc-Andre Fleury has earned another start, and will hopefully earn redemption as well.

The one change tonight is Middleton reunited with Spurgeon on the top pairing and after a so-so season debut, Goligoski is down to the bottom with Addison — not like that’s a punishment or anything, head coach Dean Evason might just like that a little bit more.

Projected Kings lineup

Kevin Fiala — Anze Kopitar — Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore — Philip Danault — Carl Grundstrom
Alex Iafallo — Quinton Byfield — Gabriel Vilardi
Brendan Lemieux — Blake Lizotte — Arthur Kaliyev

Mikey Anderson — Drew Doughty
Sean Walker — Matt Roy
Alexander Edler — Brandt Clarke

Cal Petersen is most likely going to be in between the pipes tonight.

Ah, Fiala will be on the top line with the very good Kopitar and the blossoming Kempe. After that, it’s a smattering of offensive ability but largely commitment to grinding away with a high speed down on the forecheck. On the blue line led by Doughty, it is youth and Alex Edler as well. Brandt Clarke plays in his second NHL game, so watch out for him, I guess.

It should be a hell of a game (like his matchup always is) no matter what. Join us in the comments down below!