Preview: Bruins at Kings

BRUINS (30-24-6) at KINGS (29-26-4)
10:30 p.m. ET; SN, FS-W, NESN, NHL.TV

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Bruins team scope

Goalie Anton Khudobin will start the second of a back-to-back set for the Boston Bruins. It is his ninth start this season, first since Feb. 11. He is 2-5-1 with a 3.05 goals-against average and .888 save percentage. Boston is tied with the Florida Panthers and New York Islanders (66 points) for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Bruins are one behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division. Coach Bruce Cassidy, who is 4-1-0 since replacing Claude Julien on Feb. 7, came within a win of tying Bep Guidolin (1973) and Harry Sinden (1980) for the best start as coach in Bruins history; they lost 5-3 to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. "There's nothing worse than going out of a game thinking you had no chance; we definitely had our chance," Cassidy told the Bruins website. "We had a chance in the second period to extend the lead, we didn't finish, [Ducks goalie Jonathan Bernier] made saves, we hit pipes, whatever you want to call it, so it was a lot of positive." Forward Jimmy Hayes has two goals in 45 games but scored in a 1-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 18 at TD Garden. The Bruin, who were 0-for-5 on the power play against the Ducks, are 2-9-0 in their past 11 games in California.

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Kings team scope

Coach Darryl Sutter is one win from becoming the all-time leader in Kings history. Sutter tied Andy Murray with 215 wins when they defeated the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Tuesday. Sutter will coach his 1,263rd NHL game, passing Jacques Lemaire for 13th on the NHL list. Sutter said he doesn't see any changes with the Bruins since Cassidy took over. "Their special teams are still very good like, which they were before, their goals-against are still very good, which they were before, their shots-for are still very good, which they were before, their shots against are very good, which they were before," Sutter said. "They're very similar to the Los Angeles Kings. I don't see any difference." The Kings, who have lost four of their past five home games, are two points behind the Calgary Flames for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference.

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Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Backes
Peter Cehlarik -- David Krejci -- David Pastrnak
Frank Vatrano -- Ryan Spooner -- Jimmy Hayes
Matt Beleskey -- Tim Schaller -- Dominic Moore
Brandon Carlo -- Zdeno Chara
Torey Krug -- Adam McQuaid
Kevan Miller -- Colin Miller
Anton Khudobin
Tuukka Rask
Scratched:Riley Nash, John-Michael Liles
Injured:none

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Kings projected lineups

Dwight King -- Anze Kopitar -- Tyler Toffoli
Tanner Pearson -- Jeff Carter -- Dustin Brown
Trevor Lewis -- Nicholas Shore -- Marian Gaborik
Adrian Kempe -- Nic Dowd -- Kyle Clifford
Jake Muzzin -- Paul LaDue
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Brayden McNabb -- Alec Martinez
Peter Budaj
Jeff Zatkoff
Scratched:Kevin Gravel
Injured:Jordan Nolan (muscle pull), Jonathan Quick (groin), Matt Greene (undisclosed)

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Status report

Bruins forward Austin Czarnik was taken off injured reserve and assigned to Providence of the American Hockey League. Czarnik sustained a lower-body injury on Feb. 7. The Bruins also assigned defenseman Joe Morrow to Providence for a conditioning stint. … Nolan and LaDue skated at practice. Nolan said he is close to returning after missing eight games. LaDue said he doesn't expect to miss much playing time, though it wasn't clear if he would be in the lineup. He remains on the active roster. ... Zatkoff cleared waivers and skated.

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Who's hot

Pastrnak has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in the past 11 games. ... Bergeron has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in the past 10 games. … Carter has 12 points (six goals, eight assists) in the past 12 games. ... Pearson has eight points (four goals, four assists) in the past five games.