Kings look to maintain momentum into All-Star break

AVALANCHE (26-22-3) at KINGS (30-15-3)
TV: NBCSN, SN1, SNE, SNO, SNW
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Kings aim to go into the All-Star break on a winning note when they play the Colorado Avalanche at Staples Center on Wednesday.
The Kings have a seven-point lead in the Pacific Division but don't want to squander points in their final game before their four-day break.

"You've got four or five days to live with the game after and think about it," Kings defenseman Luke Schenn said. "We're not fully comfortable with where we are, so we've got to keep pushing forward. Colorado's a good team with a lot of skill … they're obviously going to rebound and play hard tonight, so it's going to be a really good challenge for us."
Schenn joined the Kings in a trade earlier this month and has helped them keep their post-Christmas break success going. Los Angeles is 10-4-1 in its past 16 games.
"That was one of the first things I noticed when I got here was how high the expectations are," Schenn said. "It's not like you're OK with just trying to squeak in the playoffs and see what happens. I think there's a real goal here in mind. It's kind of the way the culture is around here … it's definitely a different feel coming from another organization."
Colorado had a four-game winning streak snapped Tuesday and is without goalie Semyon Varlamov because of a legal matter. Goalies Calvin Pickard and Roman Will allowed five goals in a 6-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks. Pickard, who played through illness Tuesday, is expected to start again.
Here are the projected lineups:
AVALANCHE
Alex Tanguay - Nathan MacKinnon - Matt Duchene
Gabriel Landeskog - Carl Soderberg - Blake Comeau
Andreas Martinsen - Mikhail Grigorenko - Jarome Iginla
Cody McLeod - John Mitchell - Jack Skille
Francois Beauchemin - Erik Johnson
Nick Holden - Tyson Barrie
Zach Redmond - Chris Bigras
Calvin Pickard
Roman Will
Injured: Reto Berra (ankle), Ben Street (chest), Brad Stuart (back), Jesse Winchester (head)
Scratched: Nate Guenin, Semyon Varlamov, Chris Wagner, Andrew Bodnarchuk
KINGS
Milan Lucic - Anze Kopitar - Tyler Toffoli
Marian Gaborik - Jeff Carter - Dustin Brown
Dwight King - Vincent Lecavalier - Trevor Lewis
Tanner Pearson - Nicholas Shore - Jordan Nolan
Brayden McNabb - Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin - Alec Martinez
Luke Schenn - Christian Ehrhoff
Jonathan Quick
Jhonas Enroth
Injured: Kyle Clifford (upper body), Matt Greene (shoulder)
Scratched: Andy Andreoff, Jamie McBain
Status report: Grigorenko missed Tuesday because of illness and his status is unknown. Quick was off the ice first. Lucic returns from a one-game suspension.
Who's hot:MacKinnon has two goals in his past three games. Kopitar has points in 20 of his past 26 games. Brown is on a two-game point streak.