Kings at Lightning
The Los Angeles Kings hope to put a disappointing result behind them quickly when they continue a four-game road trip Tuesday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Los Angeles allowed three goals during a five-game win streak before getting routed by the league-best Washington Capitals 5-0 on Sunday - 24 hours after winning in overtime at Philadelphia.
“We didn’t do a good job (Sunday), our execution wasn’t good and we gave them opportunities to score and they capitalized on it,” Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin told the Los Angeles Times. “Can’t let it trickle into the rest of our road trip here. We learn from it and get back to the way we were playing before.” The Lightning would like to bottle the effort from their last game Saturday and win back-to-back contests for the first time since Dec. 20-22. Tampa Bay outshot Anaheim 37-16 en route to a 3-2 shootout victory after losing five of its previous six on home ice. “(Saturday) it seemed like a really consistent three-period effort, something we haven’t had a ton of,” Lightning left wing Alex Killorn said. “This is something we want to use going into the next game.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
ABOUT THE KINGS (27-22-4): Los Angeles has not been outshot in the last eight games and posted 38 in the loss against the Capitals on Sunday, but allowed too many high quality chances. Jeff Carter leads the team with 27 goals and 47 points - 15 better than captain Anze Kopitar, who is second with 32 and recorded seven of them in the last six contests - and 16 more than reigning Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty. Peter Budaj (25-15-3, .920 save percentage, NHL-best seven shutouts) gave up four goals Sunday, but was named the NHL’s Third Star of the Week.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (23-24-6): Leading scorer Nikita Kucherov (19 goals, 47 points) had one of his better games in more than a month Saturday with two assists and six shots on goal in more than 23 minutes of ice time. Killorn boasts three goals in the last three contests and six points in his past five outings while Jonathan Drouin registered his 32nd point Saturday – matching the total from his rookie season (2014-15). Left wing Ondrej Palat is day-to-day after missing Saturday’s game with an undisclosed injury and forward Joel Vermin took his place in the lineup.
OVERTIME
1. Los Angeles was 4-0-1 in five games against Tampa Bay before losing 2-1 at home Jan. 16.
2. The Kings is 20-for-20 on the penalty kill over the last seven games and the Lightning is 4-for-36 with the man advantage the past 10 contests.
3. Tampa Bay D Jack Dotchin has one point and a plus-2 rating in his first six NHL contests, primarily paired with D Victor Hedman (41 points, minus-1).