Coyotes at Kings
Los Angeles isn't dead yet as it hosts the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday, but the Kings face a tall task in order to avoid missing the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. Los Angeles won at Vancouver 2-0 on Friday for its second straight victory and needs to win its final five games while Nashville, which defeated Minnesota 3-0 on Saturday, must lose its last four contests in regulation.
"We're not going to give up," the Kings' Jarome Iginla told reporters after scoring his 625th career goal Friday. "We have to make sure we do our part. Nobody is quitting. There's not even a lot of talk about what the odds are. It's just about getting home and winning the next game." Arizona snapped a four-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory over Washington on Friday for its second win in the last nine games (2-6-1). "I think the hardest thing for teams right now that play against us is they don't know what to expect from us," Coyotes forward Alexander Burmistrov told reporters after scoring twice Friday. "We're already out of the playoffs, but we're trying to show to the coaches and the management that we want to be here." The teams split the first four of five meetings this season with Arizona prevailing 3-2 in a shootout and 5-3 in the last two encounters - both in Los Angeles - with Max Domi, Brendan Perlini and Jordan Martinook each contributing two goals.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona Plus, FSN West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE COYOTES (28-41-9): Rookie Christian Dvorak (14 goals) also scored twice Friday while Burmistrov increased his season total to three with the first multi-goal game of his career. Shane Doan returned Friday after missing seven contests with a lower-body injury as the 40-year-old captain could be winding down a 21-year career which produced 402 goals. Jamie McGinn (nine goals) rejoined the team but did not play Friday after missing two games because of a death in the family.
ABOUT THE KINGS (37-33-7): Perhaps the biggest reason why Los Angeles will likely miss the playoffs is because its offense is in the bottom fifth of the league in scoring at 2.4 goals per game with Jeff Carter (32 goals) and Tanner Pearson (23) the only players with more than 15. Carter, who wrapped up his first 30-goal season since 2010-11, scored once in his last 10 games while Pearson owns one goal in his past 13. Anze Kopitar's 36 assists lead the team and his 48 points are second to Carter's 62, but his minus-9 would stand as his worst plus-minus rating in eight seasons since he was worse in each of his first three campaigns (combined minus-44).
OVERTIME
1. Iginla is tied with Joe Sakic for 15th on the career goal list, with Washington's Alex Ovechkin (558) the next-highest among active players in 26th. Iginla is also scheduled to play his 1,550th game Sunday, moving him ahead of Alex Delvecchio and into 12th all-time.
2. Arizona was 3-for-5 on the power play in its last two games while Los Angeles went 11-for-11 on the penalty kill in its past three contests.
3. The road team won the last five meetings.