Kings at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning saw their 10-game winning streak extinguished last time out and look to begin a new run when they entertain the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night before heading back on the road. The Lightning scored 43 goals and allowed 17 during their franchise record-tying streak before their offense sputtered Sunday night in a 3-1 loss at New Jersey.
“To get 10 wins in a row is pretty great,” Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos told reporters after his team outshot the Devils 27-20 on Sunday. “We put ourselves back in a position where we knew we could be at this time of year. … We just can’t be satisfied when you go on a run like that. We’ll look to get back home and collect some more points here before the break.” The Lightning, who visit Minnesota and Winnipeg later in the week before a 10-day break around the All-Star Game, have won six straight in the series against Kings - but needed a shootout to beat them 4-3 at home last season. Los Angeles continues a five-game road trip that began with an impressive victory at Vegas and a frustrating 2-0 loss at Carolina on Saturday in which it posted 41 shots on goal and outhit the Hurricanes 28-13. “A lot of years in the league, that’s probably one of the better-played losses that I’ve experienced,” Kings coach Todd McLellan told reporters. “. ... We played against a team that doesn’t give up much, plays at a fast pace, and I think we played right there with them the whole night. A little puck luck around the net and it could have been a different story.”
TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: FS West, FS Sun
ABOUT THE KINGS (18-25-4): Los Angeles entered the week ranked 29th in league in scoring (2.51), 28th on the power play (15.1 percent) and only one point ahead of last-place Anaheim in the Western Conference. Captain Anze Kopitar, who will play in the All-Star Game on Jan. 26, leads the team in goals (16) and points (40) after recording his 600th career assist and finishing with a plus-2 rating in Thursday’s 5-2 win at Vegas. Drew Doughty, who was picked second behind Stamkos in the 2008 draft, is slated to play his 900th NHL game Tuesday and needs one point to tie Rob Blake (494) for the most among defensemen in franchise history.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (27-14-4): Forward Tyler Johnson scored Sunday - the 150th of his career - and defenseman Victor Hedman notched his 32nd assist to tie reigning Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov for the team lead. Kucherov tops the club with 49 points while center Brayden Point and left wing Alex Killorn each boast a team-high 18 goals for one of the league’s top offenses (3.58 per game). Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was named the NHL’s first star of the week Monday after registering two straight shutouts among three victories last week, extending his winning streak to eight games and improving to 5-0-0 in 2020 with a .971 save percentage.
OVERTIME
1. Los Angeles F Tyler Toffoli is second on the team with 27 points after posting three goals and three assists in his last seven games.
2. Tampa Bay F Patrick Maroon missed Sunday’s game with an upper-body injury and is questionable for the game against the Kings.
3. Kings F Alex Iafallo, a former invitee to Lightning rookie camp in the summer, has at least one point in nine of his last 10 contests.