northernlou
Idi Admin
Preview: Los Angeles at Montreal
7:30 PM ET, Thursday, December 17, 2015
Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
The Los Angeles Kings will attempt to avoid their longest losing streak since dropping the first three contests of the season when they continue their six-game road trip with a visit to the slumping Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. Los Angeles has lost two in a row and had its nine-game point streak snapped in Monday's 5-3 loss at Ottawa.
The league's stingiest club, the Kings had not permitted five goals since a 5-1 loss in the season opener and Monday's setback was their first defeat by more than one goal since Nov. 2. "I thought we looked like a tired team," Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter said after his team's sixth game in 10 nights. "It caught up with us a little bit." Montreal fell for the fifth time in six games with a 3-1 home loss to San Jose, which entered the contest having dropped six in a row. Scoring continues to bedevil the Canadiens, who have managed only 11 goals during the 1-5-0 stretch.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN West (Los Angeles), RDS, City (Montreal)
ABOUT THE KINGS (19-9-2): Center Trevor Lewis, sidelined since Dec. 1 due to an upper-body injury and mired in a 12-game point drought, traveled to meet the team in Montreal on Wednesday, which suggests he will be available given that the road trip concludes Saturday in Toronto. Goaltender Jonathan Quick, who had a six-start winning streak halted by Ottawa, is 2-2-0 with a 2.71 goals-against average and .872 save percentage against Montreal. Tyler Toffoli ended a 14-game power-play drought with only his third tally in the past 20 games.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (20-9-3): Coach Michel Therrien split defense partners P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov after the duo was on the ice for all three goals against San Jose and had Nathan Beaulieu alongside Subban at Wednesday's practice. "I know playing with P.K. is going to be more demanding minutes and tougher minutes, but I've been prepared for moments like this," said Beaulieu, who has an assist in each of the past two games. Montreal's power play continues to be a disaster, failing to convert on 18 chances over the past six games.
OVERTIME
1. Canadiens leading scorer Tomas Plekanec is mired in a 16-game goalless drought.
2. Jeff Carter, the Kings' top scorer, has 15 points in 14 away games.
3. Montreal has won 13 of the past 15 meetings at home versus Los Angeles.
Trends
Kings are 3-8 in the last 11 meetings vs Habs.
Kings are 9-2 in their last 11 vs. a team with a winning record.
http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nhl/matchups/g2_preview_7.html
7:30 PM ET, Thursday, December 17, 2015
Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
The Los Angeles Kings will attempt to avoid their longest losing streak since dropping the first three contests of the season when they continue their six-game road trip with a visit to the slumping Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. Los Angeles has lost two in a row and had its nine-game point streak snapped in Monday's 5-3 loss at Ottawa.
The league's stingiest club, the Kings had not permitted five goals since a 5-1 loss in the season opener and Monday's setback was their first defeat by more than one goal since Nov. 2. "I thought we looked like a tired team," Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter said after his team's sixth game in 10 nights. "It caught up with us a little bit." Montreal fell for the fifth time in six games with a 3-1 home loss to San Jose, which entered the contest having dropped six in a row. Scoring continues to bedevil the Canadiens, who have managed only 11 goals during the 1-5-0 stretch.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN West (Los Angeles), RDS, City (Montreal)
ABOUT THE KINGS (19-9-2): Center Trevor Lewis, sidelined since Dec. 1 due to an upper-body injury and mired in a 12-game point drought, traveled to meet the team in Montreal on Wednesday, which suggests he will be available given that the road trip concludes Saturday in Toronto. Goaltender Jonathan Quick, who had a six-start winning streak halted by Ottawa, is 2-2-0 with a 2.71 goals-against average and .872 save percentage against Montreal. Tyler Toffoli ended a 14-game power-play drought with only his third tally in the past 20 games.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (20-9-3): Coach Michel Therrien split defense partners P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov after the duo was on the ice for all three goals against San Jose and had Nathan Beaulieu alongside Subban at Wednesday's practice. "I know playing with P.K. is going to be more demanding minutes and tougher minutes, but I've been prepared for moments like this," said Beaulieu, who has an assist in each of the past two games. Montreal's power play continues to be a disaster, failing to convert on 18 chances over the past six games.
OVERTIME
1. Canadiens leading scorer Tomas Plekanec is mired in a 16-game goalless drought.
2. Jeff Carter, the Kings' top scorer, has 15 points in 14 away games.
3. Montreal has won 13 of the past 15 meetings at home versus Los Angeles.
Trends
Kings are 3-8 in the last 11 meetings vs Habs.
Kings are 9-2 in their last 11 vs. a team with a winning record.
http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nhl/matchups/g2_preview_7.html
