LOS ANGELES — The Kings hosted the Nashville Predators at Crypto.com Arena on April 6, 2026, with the second wild card spot in the Western Conference hanging in the balance. Both teams entered the game with 81 points, and the winner would leave with sole possession of that playoff position and five games left in the regular season.
That made this the most important game of Los Angeles’ 2025-26 regular season to date. The Kings were coming off a day off and held a full-team morning skate before the game, with Anton Forsberg expected to start in goal against Nashville. Forsberg had a 2-3-0 lifetime record against the Predators, along with a.928 save percentage and a 2.45 goals-against average.
Los Angeles’ expected lineup featured Panarin, Kopitar, Kempe, Moore, Byfield, Laferriere, Armia, Laughton, Wright, Malott, Helenius and Ward, with Anderson and Doughty, Edmundson and Clarke, and Dumoulin and Ceci lined up on defense. Mathieu Joseph and Jacob Moverare also skated in the morning and could have been options if the Kings made changes, while Alex Turcotte was described as banged up and may not have been available.
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Nashville arrived in the middle of a six-game West Coast road trip and had gone 2-1-0 through the first three stops. The Predators beat San Jose 6-3 on Saturday night before facing the Kings, and they had already given Los Angeles a difficult night earlier in the week. Steven Stamkos scored in Los Angeles on Thursday for his 20th goal of the calendar year, and Ryan O’Reilly had four points, including two goals and two assists, in two games against the Kings this season.
Joel Armia has been central to the matchup on the other side. He had multiple points in both games against Nashville this season, including a goal and an assist in Los Angeles last week, and he scored the game-tying goal in the third period of the previous meeting to send it to overtime. Adrian Kempe scored twice against Nashville in that game and has three goals versus the Predators on the season.
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Scott Laughton said the matchup was a really good test and expected it to be tight-checking. “These are the games you want to play in,” he said, calling it fun and exciting. He also noted that both teams know each other well after seeing each other two games ago.
The stakes only sharpened the pressure on Los Angeles, which had not strung together back-to-back wins since January. The Kings were still alive for a top-three Pacific Division spot, but that path would require a winning streak and significant help. On a night when a single result could rearrange the Western Conference playoff picture, neither side had much room for error.
