Los Angeles has a strange problem: the Kings are a worse team at home. They're 4-7-2 overall and just 1-4-0 at Crypto.com Arena after Tage Thompson scored twice, including the go-ahead power-play goal in the 3rd period, in a 3-2 Buffalo win. Peter Laviolette liked the effort and said his team "generated a lot of offense, put a lot of pucks at the net," with Anton Forsberg making 28 saves at the other end. Corey Perry and Andre Lee scored, but in a 1-goal game that wasn't enough.
The biggest name to watch before Wednesday is Adrian Kempe. He missed the Buffalo game with an undisclosed injury and is day-to-day, and he has 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists) in 12 games. Without him the Kings gave Martin Chromiak his NHL debut, and he played 17:31, including 4:27 on the power play. Whether Kempe is back or Chromiak keeps that power-play role is the lineup question for LA's side.
It's a game between 2 teams that both need it. San Jose has wins over Ottawa and Vancouver in its recent stretch and has shown it can score, like the 6-2 win in Ottawa. It has also been shut out 2-0 by Buffalo and blown out at home by the Senators. The Kings put pucks on net and still can't win at home. Puck drop is 7:00 PM PT, and the Sharks' result against Calgary will tell us a lot about how the trip south shapes up.
