Kings at Wild preview

KINGS (4-6-0) at WILD (3-7-0)
8 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-WI, FS-W, NHL.TV

Stalock, who made 17 saves in a 4-0 loss at the Nashville Predators on Thursday, again will take the place of Devan Dubnyk, who is day to day because of an injury to his side. Stalock is 1-2-0 with a 2.22 goals-against average, .916 save percentage and one shutout in five games (three starts) this season.
Center Joel Eriksson Ek will return to the lineup for the Wild, who are 2-1-0 in their past three games after opening the season 1-6-0. Eriksson Ek missed three games with a lower-body injury.
Goalie Jonathan Quick will start for the Kings, who are 2-1-0 in their past three games following a three-game losing streak. Quick is 2-4-0 with a 4.39 GAA and .854 save percentage in six starts this season.

Players to watch

Kings center Anze Kopitar has three points (two goals, one assist) in a three-game point streak and needs one point for 900 in the NHL.
Wild center Eric Staal has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past three games.

They said it

"[Minnesota] is a team that's been poked by the bear a little bit. They're a team that's not overly enthused with the way they've started, so you've got a team that's not comfortable and that's not easy to play against." -- Kings coach Todd McLellan
"When things aren't going well I think we're getting frustrated because we can't score. … You get behind the eight ball and your shoulders slumping and go, 'Oh man, what do we have to do?' When things are going well, we're playing with a lead and playing with confidence." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Jeff Carter -- Blake Lizotte -- Tyler Toffoli
Ilya Kovalchuk -- Adrian Kempe -- Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford -- Michael Amadio -- Austin Wagner
Ben Hutton -- Drew Doughty
Alec Martinez -- Sean Walker
Kurtis MacDermid -- Matt Roy
Jonathan Quick
Jack Campbell
Scratched: Joakim Ryan, Nikolai Prokhorkin
Injured:Derek Forbort (back)

Wild projected lineup

Jason Zucker -- Eric Staal -- Mats Zuccarello
Zach Parise -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Luke Kunin
Marcus Foligno -- Mikko Koivu -- Ryan Hartman
Ryan Donato -- Victor Rask -- Gerry Mayhew
Ryan Suter -- Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin -- Mathew Dumba
Carson Soucy -- Brad Hunt
Alex Stalock
Kaapo Kahkonen
Scratched: Nick Seeler, Gabriel Dumont
Injured: Kevin Fiala (lower body), Greg Pateryn (core), Devan Dubnyk (upper body), Jordan Greenway (upper body)

Status report

Pateryn practiced Friday and took part the morning skate but is still approximately two weeks from returning.

Stat pack

Carter has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past three games. … Koivu has 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists) in 42 games against Los Angeles.