Kings at Capitals
The Los Angeles Kings attempt to post their fourth straight victory when they visit the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. Los Angeles has rebounded from a three-game slide with three straight wins, including a 3-2 triumph at Philadelphia on Monday that kicked off a three-game road trip. The Kings, who firmly sit in third place in the Pacific Division, have won six in a row away from home.
The Capitals return home to continue their playoff push after going 2-0-1 on their California trip, a trek that helped extend their point streak to five games. Washington rallied from a late deficit to post a 3-2 shootout victory at San Jose on Saturday as Chris Brown scored his first NHL goal with 7 1/2 minutes left in the third period before Nicklas Backstrom netted the decisive tally in the third round of the bonus format. The triumph came two days after the Capitals dropped a 2-1 shootout decision at Los Angeles after Joel Ward forged a tie with 7:36 left in the third.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN West (Los Angeles), CSN (Washington)
ABOUT THE KINGS (41-25-6): Jeff Carter and Justin Williams enjoyed their return to Philadelphia as each scored a second-period goal against their former team. Carter, who returned to the City of Brotherly Love for the first time since being traded to Columbus in 2011, ended his six-game drought with his team-leading 25th tally. Former Flyers captain Mike Richards was kept of the scoresheet, however, and has only four goals in his last 47 contests.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (34-27-11): The postseason chances of Washington, which trails both Detroit and Toronto by one point for a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, will improve if its captain can break out of his slump. Alex Ovechkin still leads the league with 46 goals but has scored only twice in his last nine games. The 28-year-old Russian, who is a three-time winner of both the Hart and Maurice Richard Trophies, owns a nine-goal lead over Anaheim's Corey Perry.
OVERTIME
1. Washington is 5-1-1 in its last seven home games.
2. Rookie LW Tanner Pearson was the only member of the Kings without a shot on goal Monday.
3. Ward, who has netted a career-high 22 tallies this season, had his four-game goal-scoring streak snapped Saturday.