Kings at Red Wings
Los Angeles' Milan Lucic endured a rollercoaster offseason as his wife gave birth to their second child less than a month after his father committed suicide in April and prior to his first trade. Lucic persevered as the Kings started the season with three straight losses, but they are 12-3-0 since - a run corresponding with the left winger getting moved to a line with Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli - as Lucic tries to score in a fourth straight game when the Kings visit the Detroit Red Wings on Friday.
"Not having my dad there to call or have him call me is definitely something that I'm still getting used to, but at the back of my mind, I know what he would say to me in certain situations and try to use it to keep making him proud," Lucic, who spent his first eight seasons in Boston, told FOX Sports. Toffoli (team-best 10 goals) and Carter (team-high 10 assists) lead the the Kings with 17 points apiece while Lucic produced all of his 11 points (six goals) since switching lines. Lucic's goal run coincides with Los Angeles' winning streak, which reached three games after a 3-2 shootout victory over Philadelphia on Tuesday. Detroit has lost three of its last four contests after a 2-1 defeat in overtime to Washington on Wednesday and has scored 14 goals in eight November games (4-3-1).
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN West (Los Angeles), FSN Detroit Plus
ABOUT THE KINGS (12-6-0): Tanner Pearson began the season as a member of That 70s Line with Carter and Toffoli, but has settled in nicely with Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik, and owns three goals and 11 points after not hitting the scoresheet in the first three games. Gaborik, who scored 27 goals last season and has 376 in his career, is off to a slow start with two while Kopitar has five. Los Angeles' power play is 12-for-43 after going 0-for-13 in its first three games with Toffoli scoring four and defenseman Jamie McBain providing a goal with the extra man Tuesday to help the Kings begin a five-game road trip in style.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (9-8-2): Captain Henrik Zetterberg was encouraged despite Wednesday's loss and told reporters he liked “everything except we couldn’t really find the back of the net. I think we created chances. We had a lot of shots on the net. I think we were good in front of the net. Keep playing like this and we’ll earn our points.” Zetterberg has a team-leading 15 points but hasn't recorded one in six games while Gustav Nyquist has a team-best seven goals. Defenseman Brendan Smith (plus-3, 18.1 minutes average ice time) has missed the last five games because of an illness and is questionable to play Friday.
OVERTIME
1. Los Angeles killed 24-of-26 penalties over the last eight games while Detroit's power play is 2-for-21 during that span.
2. The Kings have won five games when their opponent scores first - tied for second-most in the league.
3. The clubs split two meetings last season while the home team has won nine of the last 10 encounters.