Ducks at Kings
THE STORY: The Los Angeles Kings are hoping a change in coaches will provide better results for them than it has for their southern Californian rivals. The Kings begin the Darryl Sutter era when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday. Los Angeles is the fourth Western Conference team to employ Sutter, who also has coached Chicago, San Jose and Calgary. After a 2-2-0 road trip under interim coach John Stevens, the Kings return home, where they have lost three games in a row and five of seven. Anaheim, which is in the midst of a franchise-record 12-game road losing streak, has gone 2-6-1 since Bruce Boudreau took over behind the bench for Randy Carlyle. The Ducks, who are 0-3-0 on their five-game trek, have dropped 23 of their last 28 overall.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN West
ABOUT THE DUCKS (9-19-5): Teemu Selanne continues to win the battle against Father Time as he leads Anaheim in scoring with 35 points. He enters Thursday's contest against Los Angeles with a nine-game points streak, which is tied for the longest run in the league this season. With a point against the Kings, Selanne will eclipse the nine-game streak Chicago's Patrick Sharp recorded from Nov. 29-Dec. 20. Jonas Hiller has surrendered four or more goals in seven of his last 11 contests.
ABOUT THE KINGS (15-14-4): Mike Richards continues to make progress in his return from a head injury suffered Dec. 1 against Florida. The 26-year-old has been participating in practice while wearing a no-contact jersey and also has taken part in shooting and passing drills. "It’s just a matter more or less of getting myself back in shape and feeling comfortable on the ice," Richards said. "Obviously, I don’t want to come back too soon. You want to be sure about yourself. It’s a tough thing because you’re always thinking about it, so you never know. You want to be ready and when you do come back, you don’t want to be cautious when you step in there feeling confident."
OVERTIME:
1. Anaheim is 2-0-1 in its last three visits to the Staples Center and has won four of six overall meetings with Los Angeles.
2. The Kings have won two of the three matchups with the Ducks this season.