Avalanche at Kings
Rookie sensation Martin Jones can make history when the surging Los Angeles Kings play host to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Jones has a chance to become the second goaltender to win his first eight career starts in one season for the Kings, who are 8-1-0 in their last nine games. "It's fun, but again I've said it 100 times here: It's a start," Jones said. "I just want to make sure we close out these last two games and keep working, keep doing the things that have made me successful."
Colorado netminder Semyon Varlamov picked up a major victory off the ice Friday when prosecutors in Denver asked a judge to dismiss the misdemeanor assault charge against him. Varlamov was arrested in October after his girlfriend told police that he beat and kicked her in a drunken rage, but prosecutors said Friday that they couldn't prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. "That's not to say we don't believe our victim," district attorney spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough said.
TV: 4 p.m. ET, NHL Network, RDS, ALT (Denver), FSW (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (23-10-1): Colorado has alternated wins and losses over the past five games, but one constant has been leading scorer Matt Duchene, who has amassed four goals and six assists in the span and looks fully recovered from an oblique injury. "I just got back to doing what I was doing before I got hurt," Duchene said. "I was in a huge slump before this so you just stick with it to try and get back to basics. You just want to keep it going here." Duchene has scored only once in 12 career games against the Kings.
ABOUT THE KINGS (24-8-4): Jones came within 2:10 of recording his fourth shutout in his 7-0-0 start in Thursday's 4-1 victory over San Jose, but he even managed to notch his first career assist on a goal by rookie Tyler Toffoli, which turned out to be the game-winner. Toffoli has scored five goals in the past nine games for Los Angeles, which has outscored opponents 30-11 during that span. Jeff Carter has also come alive at the offensive end with four goals in his last eight games and eight points over the past five contests.
OVERTIME
1. Bob Froese won his first eight career starts with Philadelphia in 1982-83. Ray Emery started his career 9-0-0 but it came over three seasons.
2. The Avalanche have won six of the past eight meetings, including a 1-0 victory at Los Angeles on Nov. 23.
3. The Kings have limited the opposition to two goals or fewer in 20 of the past 21 games.