Kings prepared to stand pat at deadline

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- All players were in attendance at the Los Angeles Kings' morning skate Monday, meaning it didn't appear any were about to move before the NHL Trade Deadline on Wednesday.

L.A. has righted itself lately and will take a three-game winning streak into Monday night against the Montreal Canadiens. Justin Williams echoed Anze Kopitar's reported sentiment that the Kings don't feel a drastic change should be made before deadline.

The Kings lost eight of 10 before the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but their restart has allayed some of the concerns about a lack of scoring.

"Throughout that downturn we had, we had a lot of discussion within our group, in our room, and I think that just comes with the trust that we have with each other that we're going to get it done," Williams said. "We don't give up on anybody for having a tough little stretch if things aren't going well. We know when push comes to shove … we know we're going to get it done."

Coach Darryl Sutter said he doesn't pay attention to the deadline rumors or pundits. He acknowledged the Kings are up against the salary cap, and that's largely why their roster has mostly remained the same.

"The trade deadline is irrelevant to our hockey club," Sutter said. "I don't know what changes. You guys have been covering this team since [September], so it's fairly evident that there is a salary cap with this team … we said we were going to play young guys … that's what we'll continue to do.

"I don't think that our young players are in a position where they're going to hurt us. They're in a position where they can only get better and help us. I'd rather play them, for sure."

At the same time, Sutter said he's not entirely pleased with some of those young guys. He's gone with Tanner Pearson and Linden Vey lately, and he'd like to see more from them.

"They have to play better than they're playing," Sutter said. "We've got six young guys. I'm not playing them all … they're not all playing. What I like [is that when] they're in the lineup, they're great competitors."

Canadiens goaltender Carey Price did not take the ice with his teammates Monday morning and remains day to day with a lower-body injury he aggravated while helping Canada win gold at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Peter Budaj will make his fourth straight start in goal since the return from the Olympic break.

Coach Michel Therrien will welcome Ryan White back into the lineup after he missed the past two games with a virus and George Parros will be scratched.

Daniel Briere will move up from centering the fourth line to playing right wing on a line with Rene Bourque and Lars Eller, according to the line combinations at the morning skate.

Here are the projected lineups for the Canadiens and Kings:

CANADIENS

Alex Galchenyuk - Tomas Plekanec - Brian Gionta

Max Pacioretty - David Desharnais - Brendan Gallagher

Rene Bourque - Lars Eller - Daniel Briere

Travis Moen - Ryan White - Dale Weise

Josh Gorges - P.K. Subban

Andrei Markov - Alexei Emelin

Douglas Murray - Jarred Tinordi

Peter Budaj

Dustin Tokarski

Scratches: George Parros, Francis Bouillon

Injuries: Michael Bournival (concussion), Brandon Prust (upper body), Carey Price (lower body)

KINGS

Tyler Toffoli – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams

Dwight King – Jarret Stoll – Dustin Brown

Tanner Pearson – Mike Richards – Jeff Carter

Kyle Clifford – Linden Vey – Trevor Lewis

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty

Robyn Regehr – Slava Voynov

Willie Mitchell – Alec Martinez

Jonathan Quick

Martin Jones

Scratched: Matt Frattin, Matt Greene, Jordan Nolan

Notes: Frattin and Jones were the only players to skate as extras, so it was difficult to tell who else will be scratched. Quick expectedly will make his third straight start and go for his first career win against Montreal.