Kings at Canucks
After preventing one team from clinching a playoff berth, the Los Angeles Kings look to avert being pushed to the brink of elimination on Friday when they conclude a three-game road trip versus the Vancouver Canucks. Los Angeles posted just its third win in nine outings with Wednesday's 4-1 triumph over Calgary, but the playoff window is closing fast with the Kings having six games remaining to overcome a 10-point deficit for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Despite the daunting circumstance, reigning Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty was adamant that his team has no interest in throwing in the towel. "Oh yeah, we're going out fighting no matter what," Doughty said. "We're going to play as hard as possible. We're trying to win games. ... So yeah, we're going to fight 'til the end. We're never going to quit in here, ever." The Canucks' fighting spirit has been pretty much knocked out of them, courtesy of losses in 13 of their last 17 encounters (4-10-3). Bo Horvat (team-best 20 goals, co-leading 30 assists) packed a punch in his last encounter with Los Angeles, however, setting up three goals in Vancouver's 4-3 win on March 4.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN West (Los Angeles), SN360, Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver), NHL.TV
ABOUT THE KINGS (36-33-7): Captain Anze Kopitar, who joined former Flame standout Jarome Iginla with a goal and an assist on Wednesday, has six of each this month and one of each in three meetings this season with the Canucks. The 39-year-old Iginla has three points in his last two games and resides two shy of becoming the 34th player in NHL history to reach 1,300 in his career. Fellow linemate Marian Gaborik regained his composure after being a healthy scratch in the previous contest, setting up a pair of goals to increase his point total to three in his last three games.
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (30-37-9): Captain Henrik Sedin (team co-leading 30 assists) has been held off the scoresheet in three straight contests and goaltender Ryan Miller is mired in a three-game skid, but perhaps a meeting with Los Angeles can help both veterans regain their footing. Sedin collected three goals and an assist versus the Kings this season and Miller won both of his starts while recording a 2.00 goals-against average and .951 save percentage. "It gives us incentive to play for – for sure," Sedin said of the spoiler role. "We've got nothing else except for pride, so that's something that we can look to play for – but we’d rather be playing for a playoff spot ourselves."
OVERTIME
1. Los Angeles G Jonathan Quick has yielded two goals in each of his last four outings (0-4-0) and is 0-2-1 with a 3.46 goals-against average on the road this season.
2. Vancouver's 29th-ranked power play is an underwhelming 4-for-47 in its last 20 games.
3. The Kings and Canucks will face off in the first-ever preseason games played in China as part of the 2017 NHL China Games on Sept. 21 and 23.