Senators at Kings
The Los Angeles Kings sit in last place in the Western Conference standings but will put their league-best six-game win streak on the line Wednesday against the visiting Ottawa Senators. The Kings won the first three contests of a rare nine-game homestand and have outscored their opponents at Staples Center 90-85 this season, while being outscored 122-84 away from home.
The Kings pounced early on a Colorado Avalanche team who was on the second leg of a back-to-back Monday and outshot the visitors 11-4 during a first period where Los Angeles would find the back of the net twice - all the offense needed in a 3-1 victory. “I thought that we were doing a lot of things right these last five games and even before that,” Kings right wing Austin Wagner told reporters after opening the scoring Monday with his sixth of the season. “This year hasn’t gone as planned as everyone expected, but at the end of the season here we’re trying to make a push.” The Senators have struggled away from home all season with the NHL’s second-worst road record (7-20-6) and gave themselves little chance Tuesday as they allowed four unanswered goals in the opening 12 minutes of an eventual 5-2 setback to the Anaheim Ducks. Ottawa head coach D.J. Smith stuck by Marcus Hogberg through a first period that saw the netminder stop two of the six shots he faced as he finished with just 10 saves after the Senators outshot the Ducks 42-15.
TIME: 10:30 p.m. ET. TV: FS West, TSN5, RDS
ABOUT THE SENATORS (25-33-12): Second-year left wing Brady Tkachuk finished his rookie year with 22 goals and 23 assists in 71 contests and after registering one of each against the Ducks Tuesday, the 20-year-old has nearly matched his output from a season ago with 21 goals and 22 assists through 70 games. Left wing Connor Brown continued his career year as he picked up a helper Tuesday and has tallied 43 points this season, sharing the team-lead with Tkachuk. Goaltender Craig Anderson (11-16-2) will get the start Wednesday and bounced back after surrendering a season-high seven goals against the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 3, as the 38-year-old has since allowed four goals total in wins over the New York Islanders and San Jose.
ABOUT THE KINGS (28-35-6): Defenseman Mikey Anderson scored his first NHL goal Monday, becoming the third Kings rookie this season to achieve the feat along with forwards Blake Lizotte and Gabriel Vilardi. “To see somebody score their first, there’s a lot of joy in that,” Kings coach Todd McLellan told the media Monday. “It’s contagious throughout the whole bench. It’s a really exciting moment when that happens for the team as well as the individual.” Goaltender Jonathan Quick began the calendar year with an 0-7-1 mark but has gone 5-0-1 since and owns a 0.71 goals against average and .975 save percentage over his last four starts.
OVERTIME
1. Kings D Drew Doughty has one goal in his last 35 games but is fourth on the team with 13 assists during that time.
2. Senators D Thomas Chabot has a plus-8 rating during his last seven contests, but is still a team-worst minus-17 overall this season.
3. Los Angeles is tied for fourth with 33.1 shots per game while Ottawa allows 33.5 - the third-most in the league.