The Kings are 4-1-0 in their past five games; the loss was 3-0 to the Coyotes on Monday at Gila River Arena. The Coyotes are 5-1-1 in their past seven road games. Antti Raanta, who made 31 saves against the Kings on Monday, starts for Arizona. Raanta is 4-0-1 with a 1.19 goals-against average and three shutouts in five starts against Los Angeles. The Coyotes are coming off a 3-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday, Sheldon Keefe's first game as Toronto coach.
Players to watch
Kings forward Tyler Toffoli had two goals and an assist in a 5-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Coyotes forward Conor Garland had a goal and an assist against the Kings on Monday and has three goals in his past five games.
They said it
"I think we can (get back in the playoff race). I don't really care what other people think. We can be more competitive than we've shown. We're in so many games that we'd lost earlier in the season. You can see how much we've grown over the first 20 games." -- Kings defenseman Drew Doughty "A short practice (Friday) and tried to get our energy level back. At the end of the day, we're a good hockey club if we play to our identity. If we don't, that (loss to the Maple Leafs) is the stuff you'll see. We've got to be careful not to throw these types of games out there again." -- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet
Grabner is 'getting better,' according to Tocchet, and remains day to day. He didn't play Thursday. … Lewis, placed on injured reserve on Nov. 11, skated Friday. … The Kings assigned forward Matt Luff to Ontario of the American Hockey League. Luff played 10:55 against the Coyotes on Monday.
Stat pack
Dvorak will play in his 200th NHL game. … The Coyotes are 4-1-1 against the Pacific Division. … Kopitar has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past eight games. … Doughty has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past four games.
