Kings face Devils for first time since 2012 Final

KINGS (12-6-1) at DEVILS (6-7-5)

TV: FS-W, MSG PLUS

Last 10: Kings 6-3-1; Devils 5-3-2

Season series: This is the first of two meetings this season; the teams play again at Staples Center on Thursday. The last time they met was in Game 6 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final when the Los Angeles Kings routed the New Jersey Devils 6-1 to win the first championship in franchise history.

Big story: Since telling the media on Oct. 23 that Cory Schneider should be considered the team's No. 1 goalie, Martin Brodeur has gone 5-1-0 with two shutouts, a 1.17 goals-against average and .949 save percentage. He has improved his overall mark to 5-3-2 (2.08 GAA, .913) in 10 games and has allowed four goals on 110 shots in his past five starts. Schneider (1-4-3, 2.09 GAA, .915 save percentage) is expected to get the start against the Kings and Brodeur will be in net against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

Team Scope:

Kings: Los Angeles will be without starting goalie Jonathan Quick for as long as six weeks after he sustained a Grade 2 groin strain during a 3-2 shootout loss at the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. Backup Ben Scrivens was sharp on Thursday, allowing two goals on 25 shots, and the Kings scored three times in the third period to beat the New York Islanders 3-2. After being outshot 15-5 in the second period, the Kings dominated the final 20 minutes. Goals by Slava Voynov and Tanner Pearson tied the game before Tyler Toffoli's deflection with 1:33 won it.

"Impossible to replace Quickie," Scrivens said. "I thought we played a very solid road game and did well on special teams. It was a solid team win all-around."

Devils: The Devils were forced to play the last 46:21 of their 3-2 victory against the New York Rangers on Tuesday with five defensemen after Anton Volchenkov pulled a leg muscle in the first period. Without Volchenkov, Andy Greene (27:40) and Peter Harrold (27:46) earned plenty of ice time while Marek Zidlicky (21:02), Eric Gelinas (20:57) and Adam Larsson (17:48) did their part.

Greene, who had an assist and a plus-2 rating against the Rangers, was proud of the effort.

"I thought we did a good job of battling through there," Greene said. "You never want to see a fellow D man go down, but it happens and everyone just picked up a little bit more and stepped up their game and it was good."

Volchenkov will miss Friday's game, with Mark Fayne taking his place.

"I thought he was positive [Thursday] morning about how it felt, but [he's] not close to ready to skate," coach Peter DeBoer said.

Who's hot: Kings forward Anze Kopitar has three goals and seven points in the past six games. … Jaromir Jagr had an assist in the victory against the Rangers for his 1,702nd NHL point (686 goals, 1,016 assists). He trails Mario Lemieux (690 goals, 1,033 assists) by 21 points for seventh on the all-time list.

Injury report: The Kings are without Quick, defensemen Matt Greene (undisclosed) and forwards Jeff Carter (broken foot), Kyle Clifford (head) and Jarret Stoll (upper body). … Ryane Clowe (head), Bryce Salvador (foot) and Jon Merrill (face) are on injured reserve for the Devils. Stephen Gionta (sore foot) and Volchenkov (lower body) are day-to-day. Patrik Elias (upper body) has missed six games but practiced Thursday and could return against L.A.