Kings at Senators
Peter Budaj finally could receive a night off Friday as the Los Angeles Kings continue their five-game road trip against the Ottawa Senators. Budaj has made 11 consecutive starts, a stretch that featured back-to-back shutouts at home versus Calgary and at Toronto in the opener of Los Angeles' trek before the club dropped a 4-1 decision at Montreal on Thursday.
Coach Darryl Sutter could give the 34-year-old Slovakian a well-deserved rest and turn to Jeff Zatkoff, who has not seen action since making the start in a loss to Minnesota on Oct. 18. Whomever is in net for the Kings could have an easy night as the Senators enter with a streak of four straight games in which they scored just one goal. Ottawa is 2-2-0 in that span, however, after posting a 2-1 shootout victory at Buffalo on Wednesday in which Bobby Ryan netted the decisive tally in the second round. Ryan Dzingel is one goal behind Kyle Turris (six) for the team lead and trails defenseman Erik Karlsson (10) by one point for first on the club after recording the lone tally against the Sabres.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN West (Los Angeles), TSN5, RDS (Ottawa)
ABOUT THE KINGS (7-7-0): Budaj has played well in place of the injured Jonathan Quick, going 7-4-0 with two shutouts and a 1.96 goals-against average. The netminder posted two blankings in 55 games from 2011-12 to 2015-16 and hadn't recorded two in a season since 2008-09 with Colorado. Tyler Toffoli has tallied in each of his last two games to double his season total and pull within one of Jeff Carter and Tanner Pearson (five apiece) for the team lead.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (8-5-0): Mike Condon has gotten off to a strong start with Ottawa, allowing just one goal on 59 shots while going 2-0-0 since being acquired from Pittsburgh on Nov. 2. "I'm trying to stay in the moment as much as possible," the 26-year-old goaltender told reporters. "Hockey can get pretty big when you're looking at the big picture and looking long-term, so I just try to stay as narrow as possible. I'm just happy to have the opportunity and I'm happy to be around these guys who fight night in and night out." Right wing Mike Blunden was recalled from Binghamton of the American Hockey League on Wednesday and made his debut for Ottawa that evening, receiving 9 minutes, 37 seconds of ice time on 12 shifts.
OVERTIME
1. Two of Senators LW Mike Hoffman's three goals this season have been game-winners.
2. Carter is the only member of the Kings with a double-digit point total (10).
3. Blunden was in Ottawa's lineup Wednesday in place of RW Chris Neil, who was sidelined with an upper-body injury.