The Los Angeles Kings, (25-17-10) make their only visit to North Carolina this season as they take on the Carolina Hurricanes, (19-25-9) tonight at the RBC. The Kings are coming off a 1-0 loss last night in St. Louis and should be a travel weary team.
Neither club had a morning skate due to the NC State basketball game, so no starting goalies have been announced, although it will come as no surprise if Cam Ward gets the nod between the pipes for Carolina. Ward is coming off of a franchise record 47 save shutout in Boston and had a brilliant January, accumulating almost a .949 save percentage for the month.
Expect worse than normal ice because of the preceding basketball game.
Chad LaRose did not travel to Boston and it is not known if he will be in the lineup tonight or not. Drayson Bowman, who had been recalled to replace LaRose, is still with the team.
The Kings currently sit in seventh place in the West and have a 5-2-3 record in their last 10 games. They are led in scoring by Anze Kopitar, with former Cane, Justin Williams close behind.
Our SBN partner, Jewels From The Crown will have more about the Kings.
Brandon Sutter and Eric Staal each have points in the last two games. Staal has scored very well lately and has 18 points in his last 15 games.
The Hurricanes are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games at home.
Last year, the Kings won the only match between the two teams, 4-3 in Los Angeles. Jeff Skinner scored his first career goal in that game.
Tonight's contest will be televised locally by FS Carolinas. Brian and I will have our game thread/live blog up and ready at 6:30.