Kings at Panthers
The Los Angeles Kings have put the clamps on their opponents with two shutouts highlighting their recent 4-1-0 stretch. The Kings bid to keep their foes in check on Friday when they open a season-high seven-game road trip versus the Florida Panthers, a team they blanked once already this season.
Darcy Kuemper shut out Dallas and Arizona last week and turned aside 25 shots in Los Angeles' 5-2 win versus Edmonton on Wednesday. The 27-year-old, who made 24 saves in a 4-0 win over Florida on Nov. 18, has stepped up in place of Jonathan Quick and registered a 1.17 goals-against average and .969 save percentage in his last five appearances. Speaking of white-hot goaltenders, Harri Sateri was named the NHL's Second Star of the Week on Monday and increased his winning streak to four games the following day after turning aside 26 shots in Florida's 3-1 victory versus Vancouver. The 28-year-old Finn, who has started each game since the Panthers returned from the All-Star break, will aim to match the team's season-high win streak (Dec. 19-30) on Friday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), FS Florida
ABOUT THE KINGS (29-19-5): Drew Doughty set up a pair of goals versus the Oilers to push past both the 300-assist and 400-point plateaus, joining Rob Blake as the lone Los Angeles defensemen to reach those milestones. The 28-year-old Doughty has collected nine points (one goal, eight assists) in his past seven games overall and set up a goal in the first encounter versus Florida. Trevor Lewis also had two assists against Edmonton and scored in the first meeting with the Panthers to move his point total to 24, one shy of his career high in 2014-15.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (23-22-6): Aleksander Barkov scored twice against the Canucks to pull into a tie with Jonathan Huberdeau and Vincent Trocheck with a team-best 18 goals. "We're doing the small, little things pretty well right now," said the 22-year-old Barkov, who has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in his last 13 games. Huberdeau has recorded 19 (nine goals, 10 assists) of his team-leading 51 points in his last 17 games while Trocheck has collected 11 (three goals, eight assists) in his last 10.
OVERTIME
1. Florida G Roberto Luongo practiced with the team on Thursday for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury on Dec. 4, with the hope of returning to the lineup next week during the team's five-game road trip.
2. Los Angeles captain Anze Kopitar has recorded back-to-back multi-point performances and has 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in the last 14 contests.
3. The Panthers' 27th-ranked power play has scored three times in the last three games after going 4-for-37 in their previous 14.