012417HenriquePearson

KINGS (22-21-4) at DEVILS (20-19-9)
7 p.m. ET; MSG, FS-W, NHL.TV

Kings team scope

The Los Angeles Kings lost 3-2 at the New York Rangers on Monday, their fourth straight loss (0-4-0). The Kings have scored seven goals and averaged 32.5 shots on goal during that stretch. "I think when you generate as many shots as we did you give yourself a good opportunity to win," forward Tanner Pearson said Monday. "It's just bearing down on the second chances and putting them in the net." Defenseman Drew Doughty believes special teams need to play a bigger role. The Kings' power play is 22nd in the League (16.7 percent) and the penalty kill is 14th (81.9 percent). "We have to bear down and score goals in the dirty areas, get tips, rebounds, whatever it is," Doughty said. "We need to be better at that. We're pretty good at getting lots of shots for the most part, but we would like to get more A chances, more chances in the scoring areas. And like I said, putting in rebounds, stuff like that. We're not doing that hard enough." Goaltender Peter Budaj will start after Jeff Zatkoff made 14 saves against the Rangers. Budaj, who will be making his eighth start in the past nine games, is 2-0-0 with a 2.40 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in two career games against the Devils.

Devils team scope

New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider is expected to start after serving as backup the past two games while recovering from the flu. Schneider is 4-3-0 with a 1.87 GAA and .932 save percentage in seven career games against the Kings. "I felt really good yesterday so I'm hoping that I feel the same way tonight," Schneider said Tuesday. "I'm not trying to think too much about how I'm going to feel tonight but just go through my routine and prepare the way I always do. You want to jump right in and not miss a beat. Los Angeles is a tough team to play. They put a lot of pucks on net and have good shooters so it'll be a good test." The Devils are 4-1-0 in the past five games following a four-game losing streak (0-2-2). They have lost four straight on home ice (0-3-1). "I was able to watch the Kings play the Rangers last night and concentrated on what they were doing and how they were generating chances," coach John Hynes said. "You have an idea how they're using guys but it's nice to have a night off and have an opportunity to watch the game live. [Kings center] Jeff Carter was really good and had numerous chances and [right wing] Jordan Nolan was going pretty good. Defensively, Jake Muzzin and Drew Doughty were solid. They had lots of opportunities to score [against the Rangers] but the pucks weren't going in for them." The Devils are 5-3-2 against the Pacific Division and 9-7-4 against teams in the Western Conference.

Kings projected lineup

Dwight King -- Anze Kopitar -- Marian Gaborik
Tanner Pearson -- Jeff Carter -- Dustin Brown
Trevor Lewis -- Andy Andreoff -- Devin Setoguchi
Kyle Clifford -- Nicholas Shore -- Jordan Nolan
Jake Muzzin -- Drew Doughty
Derek Forbort -- Alec Martinez
Kevin Gravel -- Tom Gilbert
Peter Budaj
Jeff Zatkoff
Scratched:Brayden McNabb
Injured: Nic Dowd (lower body), Tyler Toffoli (lower body), Jonathan Quick (groin), Matt Greene (back/groin)

Devils projected lineup

Taylor Hall -- Adam Henrique -- PA Parenteau
Michael Cammalleri -- Travis Zajac -- Kyle Palmieri
Pavel Zacha -- Jacob Josefson -- Sergey Kalinin
Miles Wood -- Vernon Fiddler -- Luke Gazdic
Jon Merrill -- Ben Lovejoy
Kyle Quincey -- Damon Severson
Karl Stollery -- Steven Santini
Cory Schneider
Keith Kinkaid
Scratched:Devante Smith-Pelly, Seth Helgeson
Injured: John Moore (concussion), Andy Greene (wrist), Beau Bennett (leg)

Status report

The Kings did not have a morning skate Tuesday. Dowd remains day to day because of a lower-body injury sustained in a 4-2 loss at the New York Islanders on Saturday. ... Devils defenseman Yohann Auvitu, who has missed the past seven games because of a lower-body injury, was removed from injured reserved and assigned to Albany of the American Hockey League. Hynes said that Moore and Greene skated on their own Tuesday but no timetable is set for their return to the lineup.

Who's hot

Kopitar has one goal and eight points in the past seven games. Carter has three goals and eight points in the past eight games. ... Hall has two goals and six points during a six-game point streak. Palmieri has three goals and six points in the past six games.