Kings at Flames preview

KINGS (27-39-8) at FLAMES (47-21-7)
9 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-W, NHL.TV

The Flames, who have won three in a row and are 6-1-0 in their past seven games, lead the second-place San Jose Sharks by six points. Each team has seven games remaining, including one against each other at San Jose on March 31. The Sharks play the Detroit Red Wings at SAP Center on Monday.
The Kings have won two straight after getting one win in their previous seven games (1-6-0) and four wins in 20 (4-12-4). They have been eliminated from contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Players to watch

Kings forward Dustin Brown has six points (three goals, three assists) during a four-game point streak.
Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk has 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in his past seven games.

They said it

"This has been a trying year for everyone. Obviously it's unacceptable. Extremely disappointed. But there's no quit in this room regardless of what the situation is. We need guys to play hard and I'm confident that we will. We can use this as an opportunity to start doing things the right way and taking a step forward."-- Kings defenseman Alec Martinez
"It's another two huge points. We want to clinch (the division) as soon as possible. You want to win the division. Everybody wants that. Every game is really important. All 82 games are really important. It's going to come down to the end. But it's a fun challenge. Challenges are fun." -- Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Carl Grundstrom -- Adrian Kempe -- Tyler Toffoli
Kyle Clifford -- Jeff Carter -- Trevor Lewis
Austin Wagner -- Jonny Brodzinski
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Alec Martinez -- Matt Roy
Dion Phaneuf -- Sean Walker
Kurtis MacDermid
Jack Campbell
Jonathan Quick
Scratched:Paul LaDue, Ilya Kovalchuk, Michael Amadio
Injured:Brendan Leipsic (lower body)

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Elias Lindholm
Matthew Tkachuk -- Mikael Backlund -- Michael Frolik
James Neal -- Mark Jankowski -- Austin Czarnik
Andrew Mangiapane -- Derek Ryan -- Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano -- TJ Brodie
Noah Hanifin -- Travis Hamonic
Oscar Fantenberg -- Rasmus Andersson
Mike Smith
David Rittich
Scratched:Alan Quine, Oliver Kylington, Michael Stone, Dalton Prout
Injured:Sam Bennett (upper body)

Status report

The Kings are expected to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen. … Kovalchuk did not travel with Los Angeles on its three-game Western Canada road trip. …Smith will start his third straight game.

Stat pack

Kopitar has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past four games. … Gaudreau has eight points (five goals, three assists) in his past six games. …Giordano has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) during a seven-game point streak.