Kings at Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets look to set a franchise record as they vie for their 10th consecutive victory on Tuesday when they open a four-game homestand against the Los Angeles Kings. Columbus had won nine in a row from March 18-April 4, 2015, before matching that feat on Sunday, with Sergei Bobrovsky registering his eighth straight victory and NHL-best 19th of the season in a 4-3 overtime triumph over Vancouver.
The 2013 Vezina Trophy recipient is one win shy of matching his own franchise record for consecutive victories by a goaltender (Nov. 29, 2013-Jan. 23, 2014), but fell for the sixth time in eight career decisions versus Los Angeles despite making 27 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss on Oct. 25. Los Angeles' Peter Budaj turned aside 19 shots in that contest to collect his third consecutive win in place of injured franchise goaltender Jonathan Quick. The 34-year-old Budaj has righted the ship after amassing just an .861 save percentage during a five-outing stretch to stop all 39 shots the faced in Friday's 1-0 win at Pittsburgh and 29 more two days later in a hard-luck 1-0 setback at Boston. "Right now, we've got to play tight games, and that was kind of the mantra after the first game of this road trip," defenseman Matt Greene told the Los Angeles Times, referring to a 6-3 setback in Buffalo that began the current nine-game stretch away from home.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN West (Los Angeles), FSN Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE KINGS (16-13-2): Struggling forward Marian Gaborik hopes to return to the lineup after unceremoniously sitting out Sunday's tilt. "It was a coach's decision. We have that right in the locker room as players and coaches to have high expectations of players in terms of how they play," coach Darryl Sutter told the Los Angeles Times of sitting the 34-year-old Slovak, who has just one goal in nine games since returning from a broken foot. Fellow forward Anze Kopitar has also struggled by following up his 25-goal performance in 2015-16 with just three in 26 contests this season, although one of those tallies was against Columbus.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (20-5-4): Brandon Saad increased his goal total to four in his last four games by scoring twice on Sunday. The 24-year-old has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in his last 11 games and also tallied in the initial meeting with the Kings. Fellow forward Alexander Wennberg added a pair of assists against the Canucks to increase his point total to 10 (three goals, seven assists) in the past 11 contests.
OVERTIME
1. Columbus RW Cam Atkinson, who scored in the initial meeting with Los Angeles, is riding a career-high six-game point streak (four goals, six assists).
2. Reigning Norris Trophy winner D Drew Doughty scored in the last meeting with the Blue Jackets and has 22 points (five goals, 17 assists) in 26 career encounters.
3. Columbus' top-ranked power play is 6-for-14 over the last four games heading into a tilt with Los Angeles, which has thwarted all 17 short-handed situations over the last six.