The Kings would earn home-ice advantage in the first round of the Western Conference First Round with a victory against the Stars combined with a regulation loss by the San Jose Sharks to the Minnesota Wild and a loss of any kind by the Anaheim Ducks at the Arizona Coyotes. Los Angeles trails the second-place Sharks by two points and the third-place Ducks by one point, but holds the tiebreaker on each with more regulation/overtime wins. The Stars will try to close out the regular season with their third win in four games (2-1-0). Dallas lost 5-3 at Anaheim on Friday.
Players to watch
Stars forward Jamie Benn has seven points (five goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak. Benn has four goals in his past two games and 10 in his past 12. Kings forward Dustin Brown has five goals and one assist during a three-game point streak. He had the first four-goal game of his NHL career in a 5-4 overtime win against Minnesota on Thursday.
They said it
"We're trying to play for pride and I'd like to think that everyone is putting in everything they got here to finish it off, at least for the organization and the fans." -- Stars defenseman Marc Methot "We're not going to wish for anyone. We don't care who we get. We're obviously trying to win this game tonight and things can fall into place where we get home-ice, but no matter what happens we'll be ready for whoever we got." -- Kings defenseman Drew Doughty
Mitchell will miss his second straight game because of the flu. Fantenberg is set to play in his first game since Jan. 4 at Calgary. Kings coach John Stevens is optimistic Muzzin will be available for the start of the playoffs.
Stat pack
The Stars have won three straight games in Los Angeles and are 9-2-1 in their past 12 at Staples Center. … Doughty has five points (one goal, four assists) during a four-game point streak.
