3/7 Preview – Laughton, Joseph, Byfield Thoughts + Top-Line Turning Up, Laferriere on PP1, Deadline Behind Us

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Kings conclude a six-game homestand today against Montreal, as they look to finish things off at a .500 record with a win over the Canadiens.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Artemi Panarin has already played two games this season against Montreal, as a member of the New York Rangers, and he collected five points (2-3-5) in those matchups. Panarin has 25 assists in 25 career games played versus Montreal, one of four NHL opponents he has averaged an assist-per-game or better against throughout his time in the league. Defenseman Joel Edmundson led the Kings with two points in a 5-1 win over Montreal back in November, as he scored a goal and collected an assist on the game-winning goal. Edmundson played 140 games with Montreal from 2021-23 and was a part of the Canadiens team that reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2021.

KINGS VITALS: With an afternoon start time today, the Kings did not hold a morning skate in advance of the game against the Canadiens.

Coming off a strong return to the lineup, would expect to see goaltender Darcy Kuemper back between the pipes this evening versus Montreal. Kuemper stopped 21 of the 22 shots he faced in a 5-1 win over the Canadiens at Centre Bell in November and brings with him a 7-3-1 lifetime record against Montreal into today’s action. However, if the Kings turn back to Anton Forsberg, he has better than two goals saved above expected in each of his past two starts. A good problem to have right now in the crease.

This is a bit of a guesstimate, but here’s a projected lineup for today’s game –

Panarin – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Turcotte – Laferriere
Joseph – Laughton/Connors – Wright
Malott – Helenius – Ward

Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci

Kuemper / Forsberg

The Kings added forward Trevor Moore and defenseman Drew Doughty into the lineup in Thursday’s game versus New York, replacing forward Warren Foegele (traded to Ottawa) and defenseman Angus Booth (loaned to AHL-Ontario). The lineup for tonight will obviously not include forward Corey Perry, who was traded to Tampa Bay yesterday morning. It could include forwards Mathieu Joseph and Scott Laughton, who joined the Kings yesterday. Forward Quinton Byfield (upper-body injury) is also a potential option, after he skated yesterday on his own. We’ll hear from Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith at the rink to learn a bit more.

CANADIENS VITALS: Montreal concludes its three-game California swing tonight, following a 7-5 defeat in San Jose on Tuesday and a 6-5 shootout loss in Anaheim yesterday.

From Montreal’s team account, a look below at how today’s opponent lined up yesterday versus the Ducks –

La formation de ce soir

Tonight’s lineup#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/BXKKqaKjim

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 7, 2026

Former Kings forward Phillip Danault will return to Los Angeles tonight for the first time since he was traded back to Montreal in December. 22-year-old defenseman Lane Hutson collected an assist when these teams met in Montreal earlier this season, a 5-1 Kings victory. at Centre Bell. Hutson has 50 assists in total this season, the third most in the league among blueliners and he is one of just five defensemen around the NHL with 60 points to date.

Storyline Of The Day – Top Line Turns Up
Took a couple of games, but I thought on Thursday, we saw the game we expected from the forward line of Artemi Panarin, Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe.

“I really liked that line tonight,” Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith said after the game.

Per SportLOGIQ, Panarin led the Kings against New York in both offense-generating plays and o-zone possession time. Two statistics you want to see him at the top of the charts on more often than not. Kopitar and Kempe were third and fourth in offensive generating plays and second and fourth in o-zone possession time. While on the ice, those three players controlled 60 percent of shot attempts in the game at 5-on-5.

You need your top guys to be your top guys. On Thursday, they were.

“We’ve been making some plays and spending more time in the o-zone, so that’s certainly a positive,” Kopitar said of adding Panarin to his line and the impact it’s had on them.

Didn’t take them long to get it started, either.

Inside the first five minutes of the game, that trio put together a terrific shift in the offensive zone. Kopitar, playing in his 1,500th career NHL game, looked to be shot out of a cannon early, as he forced a turnover along the wall with a physical play, before he sent a no-look pass to Panarin through the slot. Panarin showed poise that few players possess, as he outwaited New York goaltender Ilya Sorokin and buried his shot inside the post on the blocker side.

For Panarin, it was his first goal as a member of the Kings organization, coming in his fifth game. Panarin has five points (1-4-5) in those five games and you really saw on Thursday what he can bring to the table.

“Really happy for him [to score his first goal], obviously an unbelievable player,” Kempe said of Panarin. “The way he creates everywhere, whether he has the puck in d-zone or o-zone, it’s really fun to play with him and fun to watch. I’m just trying to do my thing and give him the puck as much as I can, because you can see what he can do with the puck and how good offensively he is.”

That line struck again in the third period, putting a bow on a strong night together.

Panarin got things started, as he snapped a hard pass off the rush to defenseman Brandt Clarke, who joined the attack. Clarke delayed a bit, almost too long, but put a perfect pass onto the stick of Kempe at the back post, where he buried his 22nd goal of the season for an insurance marker. It was Panarin who got the party started though, affording Clarke the space to do what he does. Just another example of the impact he’s brought.

“He makes a lot of plays,” Smith added on Panarin. “You know, sometimes, some are going to get picked off and you have to live with the good and the bad and hope there’s more good plays and bad, because he cares though. You can tell that on the bench, he’s in it to win it. He’s a talent.”

For a Kings team missing several offensive players, without the depth they are accustomed to, it adds more of an onus onto the guys at the top to produce. Certainly did on Thursday, as they’ll need to do going forward.

3 To Watch For –
– In terms of the guys who were acquired yesterday to perhaps help with some of that depth, my thought right now is that both could play in today’s game. But that is unconfirmed.

Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith said that he expects forward Mathieu Joseph to be here and in the lineup, on a line alongside Kenny Connors and Jared Wright. That was, however, before the Kings had finalized a deal to add forward Scott Laughton to the group as well. Laughton could also feature today, which might change things a bit. There is also the status of forward Quinton Byfield, who could play today off an upper-body injury, per General Manager Ken Holland. Consider him a game-time decision for now.

So there are a number of factors to consider here when looking at tonight’s lineup.

Feels like Laughton and Joseph were brought in to fill two-thirds of a third line. When Byfield is back, Lines 1, 2 and 4 feel like they have a vision, with Byfield going back between Trevor Moore and Alex Laferriere. Alex Turcotte could be the third piece of the puzzle on Line 3, with the new guys, but it’s all a bit unknown with regards to those players, not to mention Connors and Wright, who have impressed in limited time with the team.

The easiest answer is to wait a few hours until warmups, when we’ll know for sure. Smith is expected to address the media today at Crypto.com Arena, in advance of the game, so we might know firmer answers sooner than that. Will share updates as they come.

– In terms of special teams roles, the Kings did lose a big part of their power play in Corey Perry. Look for forward Alex Laferriere to replace Perry on the top power-play unit for today’s game.

Smith gave very good detail on the reasoning as to why. The way the Kings operate on the man advantage, it is advantageous for a right-shot forward to play down low and Smith really believes that Laferriere has earned the opportunity to get some more time in those situations.

Believe it or not, the quote below isn’t even the full quote. That was twice as long, which detailed some further thoughts on the power play down the road. But pulling out the parts about Laferriere specifically and how he could translate to the power play and I really liked this quote –

“We’ll put Laf there, he’s a righty, and then we’ll wait on what happens when Q eventually is back and trying to figure out the hands,” Smith said. “Laf has been arguably one of our best players all year. This another dimension that could really take it to the next level. I had Zach Hyman in Toronto and he reminds me a lot of him. People would say, well, Zach Hyman scored 54 goals, but [halfway through his second season] his stats were the exact same, goals, points, whatever it was, I can’t remember, but they remind me a lot of each other. I think, at that time, [Mike Babcock] really pushed Hyman to be at the net, be at the net, be at the net. I think if Laf can be at the net, be at the net, be at the net, he’s going to find himself scoring more, on top of those rush goals. Now, all of a sudden, you start to find that touch on the power play. I’m not saying that he’s Zach Hyman, but there’s just a lot of similarities there.”

Assuming Byfield can’t play, I’d expect PP1 to feature Clarke, Panarin, Kopitar, Kempe and Laferriere. Smith added that when Byfield is back, he would like to give him a real opportunity with that group to see how he fits in. So, that could change things, with Panarin and Clarke both touted as options of guys who could play lower, with Kempe perhaps moving up higher. That’s an interesting one. But perhaps for another day. For today, that’s what the Kings will roll with. That leaves fewer options for the second unit, but would guess it could feature Drew Doughty at the top with four forwards around him.

– Lastly, yesterday puts closure on a lot of situations that perhaps lacked it.

It’s the same for all 32 teams. Players who maybe felt unsettled were either moved on or not. Everyone now knows where they’re at for the rest of the season and that is important.

For Smith, he believes it can perhaps help, although whatever happened yesterday did not change his approach. It’s not his job to acquire draft picks or plan for the future. Nor is it his job to map out the direction of the organization. It’s his job to win today’s game and that’s what he is preparing to do.

“Regardless of what happened, my job is to go and provide structure, energy and try and win every game possible,” he said. “The management – and Kenny’s done this for a long time – makes the decisions as to which way we’re going, which players are going to be here and then my job is to coach them. So, it’s good that it’s over and there’s no stress on anyone’s mind, but our goal is just to win the next game, as a coaching staff.”

Kings and Canadiens, as a long homestand comes to a close. An opportunity for the hosts to keep things rolling today under D.J. Smith and an opportunity to conclude a homestand that had a disastrous start at 3-3-0, which would be a very good recovery.