Kings at Devils
A daunting schedule is one obstacle facing the Los Angeles Kings as they open a five-game road trip at the New Jersey Devils on Monday night. The reigning Stanley Cup champions are two points out of third place in the Pacific Division and four points back of the second wild card in the Western Conference, but they play eight of their final 11 away from home. "We’re still in control of our own destiny," captain Dustin Brown said. "We play a lot of these teams that we’re battling with."
While the Kings remain on the periphery of the playoff picture, New Jersey's flagging chances all but came to an end with Saturday's 3-0 home loss to the New York Islanders. Although mathematically alive for the final postseason slot in the East, the Devils would have to leapfrog three other contenders while trying make up the double-digit deficit on eighth-place Boston. New Jersey, which had a three-game winning streak halted, won at Los Angeles 5-3 on Jan. 14.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN West (Los Angeles), MSG Plus (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE KINGS (34-23-14): Los Angeles made a bit of a surprise move by recalling veteran center Mike Richards, who was banished to the minors after clearing waivers just after the All-Star break. With Jarret Stoll still sidelined by a head injury and rookies Nick Shore and Andy Andreoff providing no offense, the Kings are desperate for some scoring punch after managing only five goals over the past four games (1-2-1). Richards averaged 28 goals over a span of four seasons with Philadelphia but scored five times in 47 games this season before his demotion.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (31-30-11): New Jersey was blanked for the first time since Jan. 8 and wasted another stellar performance in net by Cory Schneider, who permitted two goals or fewer for the 17th time in his last 21 starts. Schneider acknowledged after Saturday's game that he was outplayed by Islanders counterpart Jaroslav Halak "and it's probably not a good thing for our team when that's the case." While Patrik Elias returned from a three-game absence, leading goal scorer Michael Cammalleri sat out his straight straight contest with the flu.
OVERTIME
1. Schneider is 4-1-0 with a 1.39 GAA versus Los Angeles.
2. Kings G Jonathan Quick is a pedestrian 10-11-6 with a 2.64 goals-against average on the road.
3. The Devils have killed off 24-of-26 penalties over the last 11 games.