The Kings head into Chicago with a chance to turn one strong night into a clean road trip finish.
Los Angeles is closing out its five-game swing against a Blackhawks team sitting in last place in the Central Division and riding a three-game losing streak. But the setup comes with a catch: this is the second half of a back-to-back, and the Kings had to make the quick turnaround from New York to Chicago after what was easily their most complete showing of the season.
That game in New York gave Peter Laviolette a little breathing room, too. He said after Monday’s win that the lopsided score allowed him to keep the minutes down for several of his top players.
Whether that pays off tonight is the big question. If it does, the Kings can leave the first extended road trip of the season at 4-1-0 and head home with momentum before a seven-game stretch at Crypto.com Arena.
Even with Chicago struggling, the Kings can’t afford to drift. They’ve spent much of 2026-27 facing some of the hottest teams around, but that’s not the matchup tonight. The task is still the same: show up with the same edge and pace, even against an opponent that doesn’t look nearly as threatening on paper.
Because there was no morning skate, nothing is locked in. Still, the expectation is that Laviolette makes only one change from the lineup that beat the Rangers, and it comes in goal.
Anton Forsberg is the likely starter over Darcy Kuemper. Forsberg has a 2-1-1 record in four career games against Chicago, along with a 2.74 goals-against average and a .872 save percentage.
There’s also a chance the Kings give 41-year-old Corey Perry the night off in this back-to-back spot. If that happens, Jared Wright would be the only available forward for a 12+6 setup.
Tuesday’s game also wraps up the Kings’ first back-to-back set of the season. In all, they’ll have 10 back-to-back situations during the 2026-27 campaign.
The matchup brings a few familiar faces into focus, too. Artemi Panarin will see one of his former teams, and he has piled up 21 points, with eight goals and 13 assists, plus a plus-8 rating in 14 career regular-season games against Chicago. He also owns an 11-4 record in 15 head-to-head meetings with Patrick Kane, his former teammate and now a Blackhawks winger.
Last night’s offense keeps showing up in the stat book as well. The Kings scored on their first two shots of the game against the Rangers, the first time they’ve done that since Feb. 7, 2021 at Vegas. Taylor Ward and Brandt Clarke scored those goals in the first 4:52, marking the quickest two-goal start to a road game since Dec. 6, 2022 in Ottawa.
A win would also help Los Angeles even things out a little more in Chicago. The Kings are 52-42-13 against the Blackhawks at home, but their road record in the series sits at 46-50-12.
The season series was in the Kings’ favor a year ago, when they went 2-1-0 against Chicago with a plus-7 goal differential. The last meeting came in December, when LA rolled to a 6-0 win at home behind goals from Foegele, Kuzmenko, Clarke, Anderson, and Turcotte. Three of those scorers won’t be in tonight’s lineup.
Connor Bedard is another name to watch. He has scored in three of his last four games against Los Angeles, and he found the net in both of his last two appearances against the Kings at United Center - on Oct. 26, 2025 and March 20, 2025.
Here is how the Kings are projected to line up:
Panarin - Laferriere - Kempe
Moore - Byfield - Ward
Laughton - Haula Armia
Lee - Helenius - Perry
Gustafsson - Clarke
Edmundson - Doughty
Anderson - Dumoulin
Forsberg
Kuemper
Likely scratches: Wright, Ceci
Injured Reserve: Fiala, Turcotte, Zuccarello
Chicago comes in off a 3-2 loss to Florida on Sunday and is projected to go with this group:
Kantserov - Bedard - Kane
Bertuzzi - Frondell - Greenway
Teravainen - Nazar - Donato
Smith - Greene - Mangiapane
Vlasic - Cole
Kaiser - Levshunov
Korchinski - Rinzel
Knight
Puck drop is set for 5:00 pm Pacific Time. The game will air locally on ABTV and can also be streamed on DAZN. A Kings radio feed is available on the ESPN LA app.
In Other News...
Kings End Road Trip With A Frustrating Problem Still Unfixed
The Kings headed home from Chicago with the same nagging issue they have been trying to solve on the road: building an early lead and then letting it slip away. Samuel Helenius gave Los Angeles the start it wanted at United Center, and Anton Forsberg did his part in net with 25 saves, but the Blackhawks answered back and turned the game into a one-goal battle the Kings could not finish.
Chicagos third-period push ended up deciding a 2-1 loss that felt all too familiar by the final horn. Los Angeles now comes back to Los Angeles for a home stand still searching for a cleaner finish, with the details of how this one got away likely sticking with the group for a while. [Read more 🡒]
Connor Bedard Showed The Kings A Late-Game Problem Again
Connor Bedard was back in the middle of the action late against the Kings, which has become part of the Chicago script whenever a game tightens up. Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said the young star keeps earning those crucial shifts because of his competitiveness, even while the staff keeps pushing for more consistency in his defensive game. He also did his part at both ends in the matchup, setting up a goal and helping Chicago manage the closing stretch.
For Los Angeles, the frustrating part is how often Bedard seems to still be on the ice when the outcome is hanging in the balance. Blashill pointed to Bedard as a key piece of the Blackhawks young core and a player still very much in development, but the Kings saw again how dangerous he can be when the game gets tense and every shift starts to matter a little more. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Waste Early Lead In Another Frustrating One-Goal Loss
The Kings left Chicago with a 3-2-0 road trip, but the finale was another reminder of how thin the margin has been for them lately. Samuel Helenius gave Los Angeles the first goal of the night, and for a while it looked like the kind of start that could help the Kings control the game on the back end of a long trip. Anton Forsberg was in goal for LA, while Spencer Knight handled the Chicago net as the game settled into the sort of tight, tense battle that has too often turned on one moment.
Instead, the Blackhawks found a response through Roman Kantserov and then the decisive strike from Wyatt Kaiser, turning a one-goal deficit into a one-goal loss for Los Angeles. For a team still trying to stack together cleaner performances away from home, this one stung because the Kings had the early edge and still could not turn it into points. They head home with a winning trip, but also with another game that slipped away after looking very much within reach. [Read more 🡒]