Dueling Winning Streaks At Stake in Wild vs. Kings

The Los Angeles Kings have a massive opportunity against the Minnesota Wild as they both put their winning streaks on the line.

Nov 29, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Kings celebrate the victory against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Kings have been very impressive recently. They've shot up the Pacific Division standings with the help of their current winning streak and a huge effort from their offense. Their efforts have them in second place in the division with a 15-8-3 record.

The Kings have a massive opportunity in front of them. Their upcoming game against the Minnesota Wild, the top team in the NHL, is the biggest test of the season so far for Los Angeles. The team has a chance to win their fifth straight game, tying them for the second longest winning streak in the NHL this season and pulling them within four points of first place in the Pacific.

But in order to do so, they'll need to get past the Wild, which lately is a gargantuan task. The Wild are 18-4-4 and are playing a cohesive and structured game, making them so difficult to contain for 60 minutes. They are in the middle of a five-game winning streak themselves and they have no intention on ending it any time soon.

The Wild are getting a boost every night from an MVP-type performance from Kirill Kaprizov. He and fellow forward Matthew Boldy are playing incredible hockey of late, and the main task for the Kings' defensive scheme will be finding ways to neutralize those two wingers.

For the Kings, they are continuing to rely on their captain Anze Kopitar and winger Adrian Kempe to keep producing at a point-per-game pace. They face a Minnesota blue line that excels at shutting down opposing forwards by getting in their face and shutting down offensive zone entries, an area the Kings are also excelling at over their four-game winning streak.

Something has to give as these two winning streaks are on the line. The Wild and Kings are two of the hottest teams in the NHL right now, but only one can extend their winning streak after this contest. It has the makings of a Saturday night showdown in Los Angeles.

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