Kings at Wild preview

KINGS (39-27-6) at WILD (41-24-7)
8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV

The Wild, who are 10-4-0 in their past 14 games, hold a three-point lead on the Colorado Avalanche. Minnesota, which has allowed two goals or fewer in five of its past seven games, is seven points behind the Winnipeg Jets.
Los Angeles has alternated wins and losses in its past eight games and is 6-3-1 in its past 10. The Kings hold the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, two points behind the Avalanche for the first wild card. Los Angeles also is to points behind the Anaheim Ducks for third place in the Pacific Division.

Players to watch

Kings forward Anze Kopitar has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in his past 11 games. He leads Los Angeles with 29 goals and 80 points.
Wild forward Eric Staal has 38 goals, his most since he scored 40 with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2008-09, and has 18 points (12 goals, six assists) in his past 14 games.

They said it

"[Minnesota] has been an extremely good home team. …Part of it is they're a fast team, they check really well. …We just got to make sure we're ready to go." -- Kings coach John Stevens
"Like always, we have to put a string [of wins] together. Winning two [games] and losing one [game] is not the right formula for success. …I know [Los Angeles] is in the same boat, [so] it should make for an interesting game." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau

Kings projected lineup

Tobias Rieder -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Tanner Pearson -- Jeff Carter -- Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford -- Adrian Kempe -- Tyler Toffoli
Andy Andreoff -- Nate Thompson -- Torrey Mitchell
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Alec Martinez -- Dion Phaneuf
Jake Muzzin -- Christian Folin
Jonathan Quick
Jack Campbell
Scratched:Paul LaDue, Kevin Gravel, Alex Iafallo, Michael Amadio
Injured:None

Wild projected lineup

Jason Zucker -- Eric Staal -- Nino Niederreiter
Zach Parise -- Mikko Koivu -- Mikael Granlund
Tyler Ennis -- Matt Cullen -- Charlie Coyle
Daniel Winnik -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Marcus Foligno
Ryan Suter -- Matt Dumba
Jonas Brodin --
Ryan Murphy
Nick Seeler
-- Nate Prosser
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
Scratched: Gustav Olofsson, Zack Mitchell
Injured:Luke Kunin (knee), Jared Spurgeon (hamstring)

Status report

Quick is expected to make his third straight start and 56th of the season.

Stat pack

Doughty has seven points (one goal, six assists) in his past five games. ... Toffoli has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past four games. … Zucker has 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in his past 15 games. ... Coyle has seven points (three goals, four assists) in a six-game point streak. ... Granlund has 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in his past 13 games. ... Dumba has a career-high 40 points (11 goals, 29 assists) and is one goal from a career high.