2. LA CONFIDENTIAL
The Kings are playing the second of a seven-game homestand... They have two of their three wins this season at home and, like the Flyers, are also looking for back-to-back wins for the first time this season... They started out the year going 2-1-1 but have dropped six of their last seven - earning a win in their last game (4-3 vs. NYR) to snap the six-game losing streak... The Kings power-play is also working on home ice - they have scored all five PPG's at home, going 5-for-19 and T-9th in the NHL, compared to scoreless on the road at 0-for-19... All-Star goaltender Jonathan Quick is out indefinitely after knee surgery, Jack Campbell is expected to get the start, facing the Flyers for the first time in his career.
3. THERE'S A SITUATION HERE
The Flyers have allowed the first goal in 10 of their first 12 games, while the Kings have given up the opening tally in eight of their first 11 games, but both teams are coming off wins in which they have scored the first goal of the game... Neither team has won when trailing after the second period (LA: 0-7-0, PHI: 0-6-0) and both teams are perfect when leading after two periods (LA: 2-0-0, PHI: 5-0-0)... Both teams are also heavy second & third period scorers - The Flyers have 26 of their 34 goals (76.5%) in the final two periods, while the Kings have tallied 17 of their 22 goals (77.3%) in periods 2 & 3.
4. MINUTE MEN
Expect to see some heavy minutes from both teams in tonight's game... Kings defenseman Drew Doughty leads all players in ice time this season, averaging nearly 27 minutes (26:49), while forward Anze Kopitar ranks second among all NHL forwards in average TOI with over 23 minutes per-game (23:05)... For the Flyers, defenseman Ivan Provorov has increased his average TOI for the third straight year - he is averaging 25:03 per-game this season, compared to 24:09 from last season and is nearly four more minutes than the next d-man (Gostisbehere: 21:25)... Sean Couturier is in the Top 10 among forwards at 22:01 per-game, nearly two more minutes than the next forward (Giroux: 20:21).
5. PLAYERS TO WATCH:
FLYERS (C: #14 - Sean Couturier)
Couturier is coming off a strong performance vs. Anaheim where he recorded a goal, six shots and nearly 22 minutes of ice-time (21:51)... Couturier has four goals so far this season - all of which have come on the road... Against the Kings, Couturier has four points (2g-2a) in 11 career games with both goals and three of those points coming at the Staples Center.
KINGS (LW: #17 - Ilya Kovalchuk)
In his return to the NHL after a five-year absence from 2013-14 through 2017-18, Kovalchuk leads the team with eight points so far, six of which have come on home ice (1g-5a)... Kovalchuk averages nearly a point per-game in his NHL career with 824 points in 827 games, and nearly 40 percent of his points have come on the power play (318 of 824, 38.6%)... He also averages exactly a point per-game against the Flyers, spending all of his NHL career in the Eastern Conference, he has 49 points (24g-25a) in 49 meetings.
