Flyers at Kings
The Los Angeles Kings had little time to savor the flavor of snapping a six-game losing streak before digesting the news that franchise goaltender Jonathan Quick is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee. Jack Campbell is expected to shoulder a bigger load in the absence of the former Conn Smythe Trophy winner, beginning Thursday against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.
"Injuries do happen and not sure there's anything in particular you can point to in this situation," Los Angeles coach John Stevens said. A former first-round pick, Campbell overcame deflecting a centering feed into his own net on Sunday by turning aside 22 shots in a 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers to improve to 3-4-0 on the season. Philadelphia likely isn't interested in another team's goaltending issues considering its storied history at the position, but Brian Elliott managed to come up big on Tuesday with 23 saves in a 3-2 win over Anaheim. "We needed to change the direction of how we have been playing and (Tuesday was) a real good start to that," the 33-year-old netminder said after the Flyers ended a three-game skid in the opener of a four-game road trip.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia-Plus, FS West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (5-7-0): Aesthetically pleasing it was not, but Nolan Patrick got just enough on his low drive to snap a 2-2 tie with 1:51 remaining to help Philadelphia dump the Ducks. "One of the worst shots I've taken. I'm not going to lie to you guys and say I was aiming there," the second overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft said. Patrick, who also had an assist and won 11 of 17 faceoffs, has scored three goals and set up another in his last five games after being held off the scoresheet and registering a munus-5 rating in the previous four.
ABOUT THE KINGS (3-7-1): Ilya Kovalchuk was held off the scoresheet in three straight games before scoring a power-play goal and adding two assists against the Rangers to move into a tie for the team lead in points (eight) with defenseman Drew Doughty. Signed to a three-year, $18.75 million contract, the 35-year-old Kovalchuk ravaged Philadelphia throughout his career (49 points in 49 encounters) -- including scoring four goals and setting up 10 others in 10 games spread over the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. That type of offense certainly would be welcome as the Kings have the league's worst offense (2.0 goals per game) and 28th-ranked power play 13.2 percent).
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia C Sean Couturier's four goals this season have all been scored on the road.
2. Los Angeles C Jeff Carter, who is a former Flyer, has been held off the scoresheet in three straight games and eight of 11 this season.
3. Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux's 279 power-play points are one shy of Bill Barber for second place in franchise history.