Los Angeles Kings take on the Nashville Predators live on Thursday night in NHL action at 10:00 PM ET.
The Los Angeles Kings got off to a slow start in the lockout-shortened season, but the Stanley Cup champions are starting to play more consistently and are gaining momentum in the Western conference. The champs will try to continue that trend on Thursday night as they host the Nashville Predators at the Staples Center in California.
The Kings are coming off two straight wins and will be eyeing a third as Nashville comes to town after three straight defeats themselves. The Kings looked sluggish as they opened the year with three straight losses, but after back-to-back victories over Phoenix and Vancouver, Los Angeles looks ready to take on the top teams in the NHL.
The team has struggled greatly on offense despite the two straight wins, scoring only 10 goals and converting a league-worst 3.7 percent (1 for 27) on the power play. The team was the last one without a power play goal before Jeff Carter scored it against the Canucks in Monday's 3-2 shootout home win.
We're still not the way we were in June last year, but we're getting there," said center Anze Kopitar, who set up Slava Voynov's game-tying goal with 43.2 seconds left in regulation on Monday. "It's definitely a step in the right direction. We still have to work on things, and everyone in here thinks we can crank it up a notch. We just want to make sure we build on this win and roll ahead."
The Kings will be trying to make the most of this home game, as they will head out on a five-game road trip starting in Anaheim on Saturday. The Predators will be on the attack, but the Kings will rely heavily on Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Quick, who had 31 saves in the team's first win against the Coyotes. Last season he posted a 1.59 goals-against average and a shutout against Vancouver in the playoffs while taking away the starting job from Roberto Luongo.
Quick will be a tough act for the Predators, who are averaging a Western Conference-low 1.67 goals following Monday's 4-0 loss to Phoenix.
"You've got to fight to get in the interior," said coach Barry Trotz, whose team next plays at home on Feb. 7 against Los Angeles. "For the most part, Phoenix deflected the attack pretty well, but when you're getting deflected to the outside all the time you've got to fight to get in the interior. We didn't get enough interior play and therefore we didn't cause enough havoc."
The team opened with a 3-1 victory over Minnesota on Jan. 22, but has struggled since, scoring only two more times with both goals coming in Saturday's loss against the Ducks. It will be a bit tougher for Nashville going on, as Patric Hornqvist will be out of action for three to four weeks after spraining his knee.
Hornqvist is leading the team in points and assists and had a team-leading 27 scores last year. He scored four against the Kings last season, but will not have a chance to add to that total on Thursday.
Nashville will have its hands full with Quick and the rest of the Kings, who have earned at least one point in each of the past three games while allowing two goals in each contest.
"Any time you get two points, you get a little boost of confidence, but it's only good for tonight," Quick said Monday. "It's a playoff race right now, and every point is huge."
Predators goalie Pekka Rinne has struggled while going 0-2-3 and since the lockout schedule is shorter, the Predators will need to pick things up quick to make sure they don't fall too far out of the playoff picture.
That almost happened to the Kings last season, but instead they made it in as the eighth seed and proceeded to defeat the top ranked Canucks, who had the best record in the Western conference, as well as each of the division winners on their way to the franchise's first Stanley Cup. It was also the first time the lowest seed has won the Cup.
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