Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves for the Los Angeles Kings in a 3-0 win against the visiting Washington Capitals on Thursday night.It's the 34th career shutout and third of the season for Kuemper, who was traded to the Kings from Washington last June in exchange for forward Pierre-Luc Dubois.Quinton Byfield scored for the fifth straight game, Kevin Fiala had a goal and an assist and Warren Foegele also scored for the Kings, who moved past the Edmonton Oilers for second place in the Pacific Division thanks to their fourth straight win.Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves for the Capitals, who had won five in a row.The Kings and Capitals were battling for the puck behind the Washington net when Trevor Moore managed to nudge a pass to Foegele at the side of the crease. Foegele then stuffed the puck across the goal line from the shortside to give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead at 13:08 of the first period.Andrew Mangiapane was called for holding Mikey Anderson with 40 seconds left in the second period and that power play carried over to the third. It was then that Fiala hit the top right corner of the net with a one-timer from the right circle to extend the lead to 2-0 at 1:05.

Pierre-Luc Dubois didn't last long with the Los Angeles Kings. Just one season into his eight-year contract, he was traded to the Washington Capitals last June for goalie Darcy Kuemper.Dubois will make his first return to Los Angeles when the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals, who have won five in a row, visit the Kings on Thursday night.Kings fans may not have lasting memories of Dubois' time in Los Angeles, but he hasn't looked back either, instead settling in nicely with one of the NHL's best teams.Dubois had a goal and two assists in a 7-4 win against the Anaheim Ducks to open a three-game California swing on Tuesday. He has 17 goals and 40 assists on the season, well within reach of surpassing his career high point total of 63 set with the Winnipeg Jets in 2022-23."I'm liking the guys I'm playing with, that's for sure," Dubois said. "It's been fun to be on this team. (My teammates) have helped me a lot throughout the season. They keep helping me, so it just makes my life easier. I just have to do my job and they'll do theirs."Dubois has also landed in the middle of a historic statistical pursuit.Washington's Alex Ovechkin is nine goals from surpassing Wayne Gretzky's NHL-record total of 894. Ovechkin did not score against the Ducks, but he did contribute three assists."It's fun, it's exciting," Dubois said. "When he scores, 50 percent of the crowd gets up and celebrates, the other 50 percent has a smile on their face."Ovechkin had a small window to shoot at an empty net in the final seconds against the Ducks, but he opted to pass to wide-open teammate Aliaksei Protas, who scored to complete his first NHL hat trick."With his unreal accomplishment coming up, and he makes that play, and how happy he is with me, it says everything about him as a teammate," Protas said of Ovechkin.The Kings have won three straight to maintain third place in the Pacific Division.

Philip Danault and Quinton Byfield scored the clinching goals within a span of five minutes for the host Los Angeles Kings, who rode a potent penalty kill to a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday.Vladislav Gavrikov opened the scoring in the first and Drew Doughty added a short-handed empty-netter late in the third for the Kings, who were 8-for-8 on the penalty kill.Darcy Kuemper made 33 saves for the Kings and benefited from a pair of potential power-play goals by the Islanders that were overturned due to goalie interference by New York.The Kings have won three straight to move within a point of the second-place Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific Division.Anders Lee scored in the second period for the Islanders, who lost their second straight to end a three-game West Coast road trip at 1-2-0. New York remains five points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets in the race for the second and final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.Ilya Sorokin recorded 28 saves.Gavrikov, positioned just above the right faceoff circle, gave the Kings the early lead by firing a sizzling shot under Sorokin's glove arm with 4:27 left in the first.

The New York Islanders and Los Angeles Kings both desperately needed a day off Monday.But the Kings probably enjoyed it much more than the Islanders.The Kings will look to extend their winning streak to three games, and the Islanders will attempt to win the rubber game of a three-game road trip Tuesday night, when Los Angeles hosts New York in the final meeting of the season between the teams.The Kings completed a sweep of a back-to-back, home-and-away set Sunday night, when they scored three goals in the first 22 minutes before holding on for a 6-5 win over the host Vegas Golden Knights. The Islanders also completed a back-to-back Sunday, when they suffered a 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.The win was the second straight following a five-game losing streak for the Kings, who are five points ahead of the Calgary Flames in the race for third place in the Pacific Division.Despite the quick turnaround following a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night, the Kings enjoyed their most prolific offensive game in more than a month Sunday. Los Angeles led by three goals twice before holding off a late rally by the Golden Knights, who scored twice in the final eight-plus minutes.The six goals were as many as the Kings had in the previous four games combined and their most since Feb. 5, when they beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-3. Los Angeles scored more than two goals just three times in its subsequent 10 games.The Kings' 176 goals entering Monday were the eighth fewest in the league and the second fewest of any team residing in a playoff spot, ahead of only the Flames."Situationally, on this back-to-back, coming in here against a really good team and playing a really good team (Saturday), we're put in a tough spot," said Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke, who was one of four Los Angeles players with a goal and an assist Sunday. "It just proves we can get it done when times are tough. This isn't the typical low-scoring Kings win, but we'll take them however they come."

Anze Kopitar, Adrian Kempe, Warren Foegele and Brandt Clarke each had a goal and an assist for the visiting Los Angeles Kings, who hung on for a 6-5 win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.Kevin Fiala, Phillip Danault and Joel Edmundson each had two assists for the Kings, who have won two straight after a five-game skid. David Rittich made 27 saves.Tomas Hertl scored a hat trick, and Adin Hill made 29 saves for the Golden Knights, whose four-game winning streak ended.Kopitar gave Los Angeles a 1-0 lead at 11:22. Edmundson fired a shot from the middle of the blue line that Kopitar, stationed in front, tipped past Hill.Clarke made it 2-0 at 18:29. He collected a rebound and took it to the net before slipping a backhand past Hill's right skate.Quinton Byfield pushed it to 3-0 at 1:56 of the second period when Fiala's shot deflected off his skate and beat Hill blocker side.Nicolas Roy cut the deficit to 3-1 when his backhand from the right hashmarks trickled through Rittich at 5:00.Hertl narrowed it to 3-2 at 9:47, spinning out from behind the net to the right circle and firing a wrist shot blocker side.Foegele took the puck up the right side before cutting to the net and putting it into the top corner to make it 4-2 Kings at 18:51 of the second period.

Quinton Byfield scored the game-winning goal 27 seconds into overtime for the Los Angeles Kings, who snapped a five-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over the visiting St. Louis Blues on Saturday.Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings off assists from Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson, whose stickwork prevented the Blues from scoring less than a minute into the game. Adrian Kempe assisted on Byfield's second overtime goal of the season, and Darcy Kuemper stopped 19 shots.Nick Leddy, who missed 45 games because of a lower-body injury, registered his first goal of the season. Jake Neighbours and Zachary Bolduc earned assists. Joel Hofer made 21 saves.In a tightly contested game, Byfield got the second point for the Kings by fighting off Dylan Holloway and Robert Thomas to gain control of the puck at the blueline. He darted toward Hofer, and his snap shot from the left circle hit the top of the net.Kopitar gave the Kings the first lead with 5:25 remaining in the opening period. The captain's deflection of Doughty's shot from the point knuckled over Hofer.It was the 307th goal involving Kopitar and Doughty. With that, they passed Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito and are now tied with Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang for the second-most by a forward-defenseman pair in league history. Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey, both of whom spent time with the Kings, hold the record with 350.

The Vegas Golden Knights have turned things around after a rough stretch and will look to keep rolling when they host the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.Vegas was in a rut from Jan. 9 to Feb. 4, managing just three wins in 14 games during that stretch (3-8-3). The team snapped a four-game slide on Feb. 6, taking a 3-1 victory against the New Jersey Devils. They enter Sunday's contest on a four-game winning streak and are 7-1-0 in their past eight games.On Friday, the Golden Knights skated away with a 4-0 triumph against the Pittsburgh Penguins. They've outscored the opposition 30-17 during the eight-game run, with 10 of those goals against coming over two games -- both with Ilya Samsonov in net. Samsonov picked up the win against Pittsburgh."I had a couple of bad games and need to take a couple of steps back in order to get moving forward," Samsonov said. "We (Samsonov and goalie coach Sean Burke) discussed a lot about my game and what we want to see in this game."The Golden Knights will be looking to avenge their lone blemish over the past month, a 5-2 loss to the division rival Kings on Feb. 24. Vegas held a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes before Los Angeles tallied four times in the third period to take the win.After that setback, Bruce Cassidy's squad was only two points up on second place in the Pacific Division and five points ahead of the Kings in third place. Fast forward nearly two weeks, and the Golden Knights hold a nine-point advantage on Los Angeles, with 20 games remaining.Tomas Hertl, a bombshell trade deadline acquisition one year ago on March 8, has helped fuel Vegas' run over the past month. The 31-year-old has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past eight games, being held off the scoresheet only twice during that stretch.The Kings, meanwhile, enter Sunday's tilt looking to build off a 2-1 overtime win against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, a victory that snapped a five-game losing streak (0-3-2). They outshot the Blues 20-13 in the final two periods after being outshot 7-2 in the first.

The St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings have gotten to know each other well over the past week.On Saturday, the teams will meet -- in Los Angeles -- for the third time in eight days and the final time in the regular season.The Blues won the first two games against the Kings, including a 3-2 shootout victory on Wednesday in Los Angeles.St. Louis has won six of its last seven games and enters Saturday just one point behind the Vancouver Canucks for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.Los Angeles sits third in the Pacific Division, five points shy of the Edmonton Oilers for second place. However, the Kings have lost five straight, earning just two points (0-3-2) in that span.Scoring has been an issue for the Kings all season. They are 23rd in the league by averaging 2.8 goals per game. The power-play units are the third-worst, converting on just 15 percent of their opportunities this season.The Kings went without scoring on the man advantage in the nine games (0-for-14) leading up to the 4 Nations Face-Off break last month. In the seven games since, they've scored on three of 17 chances.To address that issue, the team acquired forward Andrei Kuzmenko from the Philadelphia Flyers just before Friday's trade deadline.After scoring 39 goals in 81 games for Vancouver in the 2022-23 season, the Russian has seen his production taper severely. He had 22 goals last season in splitting time with Vancouver and Calgary. This season, he has only six in 44 games between the Flames and Flyers. Of his 67 career goals, 26 have been on the power play.

Robert Thomas scored in regulation and posted the shootout winner to give the visiting St. Louis Blues a 3-2 victory over the struggling Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday.Jake Neighbours also tallied in regulation and the shootout for the Blues, who are on a 6-1-1 run to keep within striking distance of the Western Conference's wild-card playoff positions.St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington made 21 saves, including stops on a pair of breakaway chances in the overtime frame before the game went to the shootout. He also denied two of the three Kings he faced in the skills contest for the extra point.Quinton Byfield and Trevor Moore scored for the Kings, who have lost their past five games (0-3-2) but remain third in the Pacific Division. Goalie Darcy Kuemper stopped 28 shots through overtime in a stellar performance to earn a point.With the opportunity to claim the victory in the shootout, Thomas worked down his off wing and ripped a shot off Kuemper's blocker and into the cage.Kevin Fiala was the only Los Angeles player who netted his shootout attempt.The clubs traded goals in each of the first two periods.

The Los Angeles Kings will be looking to snap a four-game skid when they play host to the momentum-gaining St. Louis Blues on Wednesday.Heading into the first of two meetings in a four-day span -- both at home, where Los Angeles is 19-3-3 this season -- the Kings are in a 0-3-1 stretch, with the last three defeats settled in regulation time. They are coming off a 5-1 road loss to the cellar-dwelling Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, a game that was tied before the first of four unanswered goals in the opening minute of the second period.The Kings outshot the Blackhawks 42-18, but that was little consolation."On most nights you'd be leading in the first if not by one, maybe two, maybe three, so no problem," Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller told LAKingsInsider.com. "Maybe we got frustrated because we had a difficult time scoring. I don't know if that was it."Los Angeles is third in the Pacific Division and looking for a hint of revenge against the Blues, who have won three straight meetings, including a 4-1 affair on Saturday in which host St. Louis scored four unanswered goals."We owe that club a better effort than we did last time. They kind of beat us at our own game," Kings forward Warren Foegele said. "I think everyone's excited to get home and get rid of that."Hiller cautioned how his squad must worry about the process, not revenge."We owe ourselves one. I'm not too worried about owing them one," he said. "I'm worried about us playing our game and playing it for 60 minutes and then we'll see what the outcome is."St. Louis arrives after a 6-3 setback against the Dallas Stars on Sunday in the opener of a six-game road trip. The Blues were on a four-game winning streak and 5-0-1 run that has them nipping at the Western Conference's second wild-card playoff spot with 20 games remaining.Remembering the positives was the message sent through despite the disappointment.

Dylan Holloway scored a goal and earned an assist as the St. Louis Blues defeated the visiting Los Angeles Kings 4-1 on Saturday.Colton Parayko, Pavel Buchnevich and Zack Bolduc also scored for the Blues, who extended their season-best winning streak to four games.Jordan Binnington made 25 saves to run his point streak to six games (5-0-1).Kevin Fiala scored and David Rittich made 30 saves for the Kings, who lost their third straight game.The Kings struck first by scoring a power-play goal 3:43 into the game. From the center point, Drew Doughty set up Fiala for his successful shot from atop the right circle.Parayko tied the game 1-1 midway through the period. He stepped in to take a pass from Jordan Kyrou and scored with a quick shot from the left face-off dot.Buchnevich put the Blues up 2-1 with 1:53 left in the period. He pushed a bouncing puck deep into the Los Angeles zone, then he won the battle during the ensuing goal-mouth scramble.The Blues carried the play for much of the second period. They generated multiple scoring chances, including Philip Broberg's shot off the rush from the left circle.

Logan Stankoven scored two goals and Roope Hintz had a career-high four assists as the Dallas Stars defeated the visiting Los Angeles Kings 6-2 on Friday night.Jason Robertson and Sam Steel each had a goal and an assist, Thomas Harley contributed two assists and Jake Oettinger made 29 saves for the Stars, who have won four of their last five games.Warren Foegele and Trevor Moore scored and Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves for the Kings, who have dropped two in row (0-1-1).Robertson scored from below the left circle off a rebound to give Dallas a 1-0 lead at 4:21 of the first period.The Kings tied it 1-1 at 6:44 after Phillip Danault made a short pass to Foegele, who was cutting to the net, and he hit the net from in close for his fifth goal in the past seven games.Los Angeles forward Tanner Jeannot was whistled for double-minor high- sticking with 10 minutes left in the first, and Matt Duchene scored with one second left on the first penalty to give the Stars a 2-1 lead at 11:59.After Oettinger denied Foegele on a breakaway during the second penalty, Stankoven scored on a rebound shortly after it expired for a 3-1 lead at 14:11.The Stars were on a power play when Wyatt Johnston tipped in a point shot from Hintz to increase the lead to 4-1 at 4:57 of the second period.

The St. Louis Blues are finally seeing a payoff for their progress made since Jim Montgomery took over as head coach in November.They will carry their first three-game winning streak of the season into a Saturday night home game against the Los Angeles Kings."I think everybody here believes in each other," St. Louis defenseman Philip Broberg said. "We've just got to keep building, taking steps and keep working."Before defeating the Capitals 5-2 in Washington on Thursday night, the Blues had gone 0-7-1 while trying to win their third straight game this season.The Blues have earned at least a point in seven of their past eight games, going 5-1-2. They earned three of the possible four points against the NHL's top two teams, the Winnipeg Jets and the Capitals."At times we've been playing some good hockey, but recently we've been playing awesome," Blues forward Dylan Holloway said. "We're playing the right way. All four lines are buzzing and playing honest."As long as we keep going, playing the right way, I think we can go on a little run."Blues center Robert Thomas carries an eight-game point streak into the game against the Kings. He has four goals and eight assists during that span.St. Louis defenseman Colton Parayko has scored a career-high 14 goals this season, with eight coming in his last 19 games. Defenseman Cam Fowler has two goals and three assists in his past five games.The Kings had their seven-game point streak (5-0-2) snapped Friday night with a 6-2 road loss against the Dallas Stars. They allowed two power-play goals and a short-handed goal while getting blanked on four man-advantage opportunities, so special teams will be a focus as they face the Blues for the first of three meetings in a span of eight days.Los Angeles ranks 30th among the 32 NHL teams with a 14.7 percent power-play conversion rate.

The Dallas Stars will be eager to get back on track when they open a four-game homestand against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night.The Stars didn't like the way they competed in a 6-4 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, a poor way to close out a six-game road trip that was separated by the two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off."I like the fact that we're not happy," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. "We expect to win every night. I think the lesson (against the Blue Jackets) is we just didn't play well enough to win."The Stars came out of the break last Saturday and looked smooth in a 4-2 win at the New Jersey Devils. Dallas then received a hat trick from Jason Robertson the following day in a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders.The Stars then took on the Blue Jackets, a team that's battling to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020, and Columbus scored two goals in the first five minutes and never looked back."Three games in four nights, but no excuses," Stars forward Mavrik Bourque said. "We've got to be better and I'm sure we're going to bounce back."Like the Kings, the Stars have played extremely well at home this season, owning a 20-6-1 record on their own ice. The loss in Columbus should be a distant memory by the time Dallas plays in front of its own fans."That's behind us, and now it's about how we respond," Dallas center Matt Duchene said of the Columbus game. "We want to get back and establish the game we've had there. I'm sure we'll correct some of the stuff we did (against Columbus). We've got to be better, and we'll attack that this week."The Kings arrive in Dallas riding a seven-game point streak (5-0-2), but still looking up at the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific Division, and with not much separation over the wild-card teams.

Conor Garland scored his second goal of the game with 34 seconds left in overtime to lift the visiting Vancouver Canucks to a 3-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.Garland scored with a wrist shot from the left circle off the rush after the Canucks had killed a penalty and both teams were still skating 4-on-4.Nils Hoglander also scored and Kevin Lankinen made 24 saves for the Canucks, who moved back into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Vancouver also got its first win on its five-game road trip, which started with consecutive losses.Adrian Kempe and Warren Foegele scored in the third period and David Rittich made 14 saves for the Kings, who had won five of six. They are 19-3-2 on home ice this season.Hoglander gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 9:56 of the first period when he hit the top-right corner with a wrist shot from the inside edge of the left circle.After killing two penalties earlier in the second period, the Canucks capitalized on their first power play later in the period when Filip Chytil made a short centering pass to Garland for a one-timer from in close for a 2-0 lead at 13:07.Kempe prevented Lankinen's fifth shutout of the season when he scored at 9:16 of the third period to cut it to 2-1.Kempe built up speed as he received a pass from Vladislav Gavrikov in the neutral zone and spliced through three defenders before scoring his team-leading 26th goal of the season. It came on a wrist shot from the inside edge of the left circle.

The Los Angeles Kings found another forward combination to boost their offense in a tight game, but it's unclear whether Adrian Kempe, Kevin Fiala and Quinton Byfield will remain together Wednesday night against the visiting Vancouver Canucks.Kempe joined Fiala and Byfield in the second period Monday night against the visiting Vegas Golden Knights and the trio helped rally Los Angeles to a 5-2 victory.The Kings scored four unanswered goals in the third period -- the last three with Kempe, Fiala and Byfield on the ice together."They made a big difference and looked really good doing it," Kings coach Jim Hiller said. "I don't know if we'll see it again, or if we'll see it again next game, or whenever, I'm sure at some point, but we'll talk about it as a coaching staff."Hiller first moved Kempe with Fiala and Byfield in the second period when the Kings were struggling to generate offense. Hiller thought Kempe gave the line a spark the last few shifts of the period, so he stayed with it in the third."We don't usually do that and we felt like we had them going," Hiller said. "They had some energy, so let's give them a run."Byfield, who finished with a career-high four assists against Vegas, said Kempe fits in seamlessly with him and Fiala."(Kempe) is one of the most underrated players in the NHL," Byfield said. "Just being able to get him on our line, he plays a 200-foot game, plays the game the right way. ... Just playing with those two guys, high-skill guys, you kind of just want to get them the puck."Kempe has spent most of the season on a line centered by Anze Kopitar, but Hiller has been having difficulty adding a productive left wing.

Quinton Byfield recorded four assists to lead the Los Angeles Kings' 5-2 comeback win over the visiting Vegas Golden Knights on Monday.Down 2-1 at the second intermission, the Kings surged ahead with four unanswered goals. Warren Foegele scored the game-winner 8:31 into the third period, set up by a superb backhand pass from Byfield that found an open Foegele at the side of the Vegas net.The Kings are on a six-game points streak (5-0-1), and they are 4-0-1 on their six-game homestand. Los Angeles is 19-3-2 at home this season, leading the NHL with an .833 home point percentage.Trevor Moore scored two goals, Foegele had a goal and an assist and Adrian Kempe had two assists for the Kings. Joel Edmundson and Kevin Fiala scored the other Los Angeles goals, and Adrian Kempe notched two assists.Darcy Kuemper stopped 20 of 22 shots, including an outstanding sprawling pad save to rob Nicolas Roy late in the first period.The four points marked a new single-game high for Byfield in his five NHL seasons. Byfield has 10 points (all assists) over his past six games.The Golden Knights had their three-game winning streak end. Vegas is 1-2-0 against the Kings this season, and 14-1-1 against all other Pacific Division clubs.Mark Stone and Brayden McNabb scored for Vegas, and Ilya Samsonov made 14 saves.

Drew Doughty had a goal and two assists for the Los Angeles Kings in their 5-3 win against the visiting Utah Hockey Club on Saturday night.Kevin Fiala had a goal and an assist, Alex Laferriere, Trevor Lewis and Mikey Anderson also scored, Joel Edmundson and Phillip Danault each had two assists, and Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves for the Kings, who improved to a league-best 18-3-2 at home.Barrett Hayton had the first hat trick in Utah club history, Nick Schmaltz had two assists and Connor Ingram made 21 saves. Utah had won three of four heading into the two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.Utah went on the first power play of the game after Quinton Byfield was whistled for tripping Hayton, and Hayton capitalized 18 seconds later. He redirected a backhand pass from Schmaltz past Kuemper for a 1-0 lead at 7:54 of the first period.Doughty, who helped Canada to victory in the 4 Nations championship game on Thursday, scored his first goal of the season 28 seconds later on a one-timer from above the circles to tie it 1-1.Hayton scored again at 5:50 of the second period to move Utah back ahead 2-1.Kuemper made a left pad save on a one-timer by Schmaltz from the slot, but the rebound came out diagonally to Hayton, who had a wide-open side of the net.Los Angeles was on its first power play when Fiala scored on a one-timer from the right circle to tie it 2-2 at 7:59 of the second.

The Los Angeles Kings will bid to extend their points streak and gain ground in the Pacific Division when they host the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday.The Kings are 4-0-1 in their last five games, including Saturday's 5-3 win over the Utah Hockey Club. Drew Doughty recorded a goal and two assists against Utah, in what might be a breakout game within his difficult season.After breaking his left ankle in preseason play, Doughty didn't return to action until Jan. 29. The defenseman had only one assist in six games before he departed to play for Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off, but Doughty's strong performance in the tournament has left him re-energized."I'm not going to lie, I was lacking a little bit of confidence because I wasn't playing the way I wanted to play," Doughty said. "Making that team gave (confidence) to me, and then when I proved to myself I could still play with those big boys, it made me feel really good about myself. And I came back here just excited to go on this playoff stretch."An in-form Doughty would provide a huge boost to a Los Angeles group that is already in a playoff position as the Pacific Division's third-place team. The schedule is also in the Kings' favor, as 18 of the team's final 28 games will be played in Los Angeles.The Kings are 18-3-2 on home ice, good for the highest home point percentage (.826) in the NHL this season. This sterling home record includes a 6-3 victory over the Golden Knights on Oct. 30, while the Knights recorded a 6-1 win over the Kings in Las Vegas on Oct. 22.Vegas has a seven-point edge over the Kings in the standings, but the Golden Knights are more directly battling the Edmonton Oilers for first place in the Pacific. The Knights' pursuit of the Pacific crown has been helped by a dominant 15-2-1 record against division opponents.While Doughty was elevated by the 4 Nations Face-Off, the tournament wasn't as positive an experience for a star Vegas defenseman. Shea Theodore will miss multiple weeks after sustaining an arm injury while playing for Team Canada.Even without Theodore, the Golden Knights extended their winning streak to three games in Saturday's 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Brandon Saad tallied the game-winning goal in ambush fashion, scoring 18 seconds into the third period.

The Los Angeles Kings and the Utah Hockey Club are both expected to welcome back a key defenseman when they come off their two-week break on Saturday evening in Los Angeles.Mikey Anderson, third on the Kings in average ice time at 22:50, is set to return after missing the past four games with an upper-body injury sustained against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 30.Sean Durzi, who spent his first two NHL seasons with Los Angeles, is slated to return for Utah after missing 52 games with a shoulder injury. Durzi was injured on Oct. 14 against the New Jersey Devils after averaging 21:27 of ice time through the first four games."I think it's a great boost. I think the player, but the person as well," Utah coach Andre Tourigny said of Durzi. "The energy, the leadership he brings, the commitment he has. It's good to have him back and, obviously, he's a good player."Both teams are as close to 100 percent healthy as they've been all season.Drew Doughty returned on Jan. 29 after missing the first 47 games with a broken ankle, and the veteran defenseman then played for Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off over the past two weeks.After celebrating the win against the U.S. in the championship game on Thursday night, Doughty will be available to play on Saturday, Kings coach Jim Hiller told reporters on Friday."We get Dewey for a little bit, but now he's got four more games under his belt at a very high pace, so that's going to be really good for us and for him," Anderson said. "I think everyone's excited. It adds another layer to the team."Los Angeles forward Adrian Kempe is also coming off three games at 4 Nations with Team Sweden and is expected to play Saturday.