Minnesota Wild v Los Angeles Kings Live

Given the fact that the Kings and Wild both underwent significant changes it is no surprise that neither team has yet managed to play up to its potential. Thus, the game between the winless Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings will get underway at Staples Center on Friday at 2:30 a.m. GMT.

After missing the playoffs six years in a row, the Los Angeles Kings are hoping to finally end their post-season abstinence in 2009-10. Despite being one of the youngest teams in the league, the Kings’ front office continued to focus on improving through the NHL entry draft. Subsequently, Los Angeles went on to finish the preseason with a respectable 4-3-1 record. However, their season opener did not go as well as hoped and ended with a disappointing 6-3 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes.

In contrast, the Minnesota Wild were very active on the free agent market after losing high-scoring forward Marian Gaborik to the New York Rangers. In fact, the Wild signed no less than 13 free agents plus another 8 rookies acquired in this year’s NHL entry draft in June. Most importantly, the franchise is expecting Martin Havlat and Petr Sykora to provide the franchise with offensive firing power. Unfortunately, their first game in 2009-10 did not feature much of the anticipated offense as the Wild lost 2-1 to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Taking everything into account, the Wild appear to have slightly more individual talent than the Los Angeles Kings but have not fully integrated their boatload of new players yet. Thus, the young Kings squad might be able to take advantage of said shortcoming when they will host the Minnesota Wild on Friday night.

You can watch all games of the Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings right here on www.watchlivenhl.com, the home of NHL live streaming.