Coyotes at Kings
The Los Angeles Kings look to hit the ground running after their schedule break and vie for their sixth win in eight outings overall and third in as many encounters this season versus the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday when the Pacific Division rivals meet at Staples Center. Jeff Carter had two goals and two assists in last week's 6-3 victory over Florida and set up Jake Muzzin's power-play goal with 1:49 to play in a 3-2 triumph over Arizona.
While Carter (team-leading 29 goals, 51 points) hasn't been shy with his offense, captain Anze Kopitar (six goals) is mired in his worst goal-scoring season of his career - although the Coyotes will argue that the 29-year-old has been quite productive. Kopitar, who has been held without a point in the final three contests of Los Angeles' four-game road trip, set up two goals in a 4-3 victory over Arizona on Dec. 1 and had a goal and two assists in a 3-2 win over the Coyotes on Jan. 31. Arizona veteran Martin Hanzal (team-leading 14 goals) scored his fourth goal in three games in a 5-2 loss at Edmonton on Tuesday and tallied twice in a 4-3 setback to Los Angeles on Dec. 1. "Trying to play hard," Hanzal told the Arizona Republic of his recent goal-scoring surge. "I've been lucky a couple times. Puck's going in for me, which is great, but I'd rather take two points for the team."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona, FSN West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE COYOTES (19-29-7): While Arizona bid adieu to its potential postseason aspirations long ago, coach Dave Tippett told the Arizona Republic that he isn't interested in embracing the "spoiler" role. "That's not my mindset at all," Tippett said. "My mindset is to continue to improve as a group. I don't like being a spoiler because I don't like being in this position, so I don't talk about that much. I just talk about having our team play as well as it can and making sure players continue to get the experience and growth they need to push our team forward." Christian Dvorak, 21, has stepped it up this month by scoring five goals and setting up two others in his last six games after mustering four tallies and nine assists in his previous 45 contests.
ABOUT THE KINGS (28-23-4): Los Angeles has embraced the youth movement by recalling 2014 first-round pick Adrian Kempe, 20, on the heels of trading veteran defenseman Tom Gilbert, 34, to Washington on Wednesday for a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2017 NHL draft. A top forward prospect, Kempe has just 11 goals and eight assists in 43 games with Ontario of the American Hockey League. Defenseman Paul LaDue, who recently made his NHL debut, was also recalled from the Reign while veteran Devin Setoguchi was shuffled to the minors.
OVERTIME
1. Los Angeles has thwarted all 26 of its short-handed opportunities over its last nine games.
2. Arizona C Max Domi and D Oliver Ekman-Larsson are each riding four-game point streaks.
3. Kings G Peter Budaj is 15-5-1 with a 2.21 goals-against average at home this season.