Lightning at Kings
Ben Scrivens goes for his third straight shutout and Martin St. Louis is expected to play his 1,000th career game when the Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. Scrivens has not allowed a goal in 155 minutes, 2 seconds to help the Kings finish a road trip 3-0-1 and extend their point streak to six games (5-0-1). St. Louis, who led the league in scoring at age 37 last season, has 20 points in 20 contests as a first-year captain for the Lightning.
St. Louis had two goals and an assist as the Lightning defeated Los Angeles 5-1 at home on Oct. 15, one of seven victories in eight games against Western Conference foes. The only setback was Saturday when the Eastern Conference point leaders dropped a 6-3 decision at Phoenix to start a four-game road trip. Scrivens replaced injured Jonathan Quick and beat the New York Islanders 3-2 before blanking New Jersey and the New York Rangers.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, SunSports (Tampa Bay), FSN West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (14-6-0): Goalie Ben Bishop was pulled after allowing three goals Saturday, just after being hit on the mask by a shot, but he practiced Monday and said he is fine. Bishop, who shares the NHL lead in wins with Chicago’s Corey Crawford (13), yielded more than two goals for only the third time in 16 games. Right wing Richard Panik scored his first goal on Saturday and boasts four points to go along with a plus-two rating over the last six games.
ABOUT THE KINGS (14-6-1): Named the NHL's First Star of the Week, Scrivens has three shutouts this season in relief of Quick, who is out indefinitely with a groin strain. With Jeff Carter out with a lower-body injury, Mike Richards has stepped up with 10 points in eight games and rookie Tyler Toffoli recorded eight points in seven contests after being recalled. The Kings were fourth in the league in goals-against through Sunday and have received 10 goals from their defense, led by Drew Doughty (four).
OVERTIME
1. St. Louis comes into the contest with 932 career points – 912 in 930 games with Tampa Bay.
2. Los Angeles leads the league in faceoff percentage at 55.1 percent while Richards - along with fellow Cs Anze Kopitar and Jarret Stoll - are all over 55 percent.
3. Tampa Bay D Sami Salo returned to the lineup against Phoenix after missing two games with a lower-body injury.