Kings at Capitals
Veteran center Mike Richards faces his former team for the first time since a messy departure as his Washington Capitals host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. Richards helped the Kings capture two Stanley Cups during his four years in Tinseltown before a combination of limited production and an arrest at the Canadian border for possession of a controlled substance led to the club terminating the remaining five years and $22 million of his contract.
"(Los Angeles general manager Dean Lombardi) had to do things that he probably did want to do at the end of the day, but I didn't make it easy on him, either, to keep me around," the 31-year-old Richards told reporters. "I want to say fault on both parts, but it's probably more so on me, and he had to do what he had to do (for) what he thought benefited the L.A. Kings." While Washington saw its five-game winning streak halted with a 4-3 setback to Dallas on Saturday, Los Angeles has alternated victories and losses over the last eight contests - including the first four of its season-high seven-game road trip. Goaltender Jonathan Quick, who is unlikely to play on Tuesday, sat out his third straight game with a lower-body injury in Sunday's 1-0 setback to New Jersey.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN West (Los Angeles), CSMA (Washington)
ABOUT THE KINGS (33-19-3): Los Angeles' offense has gone up and down like a yoyo, as the team has scored 20 goals in its three wins this month and four in the three losses. Tyler Toffoli has scored a goal and set up four others during the last five games, but has yet to tally in four career meetings with the Capitals. Goaltender Jhonas Enroth turned aside 17 shots versus the Devils and could be in line to face Washington, versus which he owns a 2-0-3 mark with a 2.91 goals-against average.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (40-10-4): While Richards has yet to record a point with Washington, fellow former King Justin Williams has scored two goals in his last three contests to raise his total to 18 - matching last season's mark with Los Angeles. "I want to say it's just another game, but it's not," the 2014 Conn Smythe Trophy-winning Williams told reporters. "It has a lot of meaning to me, it has a lot of importance to me." Captain Alex Ovechkin has scored in four straight games and has 18 goals in his last 19 contests, with seven of those tallies accounting for half of his power-play total this season.
OVERTIME
1. Washington D Brooks Orpik (lower-body injury) could make his return from a 40-game absence on Tuesday.
2. Los Angeles has permitted one power-play goal in each of its last five contests.
3. The Capitals have scored with the man advantage in three straight games following an 0-for-17 stretch in the previous five contests.