Gaborik_Ward

KINGS (30-20-5) at HURRICANES (26-21-9)
7 p.m. ET; FS-CR, FS-W, NHL.TV

Carolina is 4-2-1 entering the final game of an eight-game homestand and holds the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Ward will make his ninth start in 12 games.
Sebastian Aho, who regularly plays left wing on Carolina's top line, will move to center between Jeff Skinner and Lee Stempniak. Jordan Staal will center for Brock McGinn and Elias Lindholm.
Goaltender Jonathan Quick will start for the Kings, who are one point behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card in the Western Conference. Los Angeles will be without forward Dustin Brown, who is serving a one-game suspension for kneeing Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev on Saturday.
The Kings defeated the Hurricanes 3-2 in overtime in Los Angeles on Dec. 9.

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Players to watch

Kings center Anze Kopitar has three goals and three assists in a four-game point streak.
Aho has 20 points (13 goals, seven assists) in his past 18 games.

They said it

"The thing with Brown, he's one of those guys that plays every night. He plays a hard game, but he rarely misses a hockey game. He plays in a lot of situations, so it's a real good opportunity for other guys to pick up some of those minutes, whether it's power play, penalty kill or 5-on-5." -- Kings coach John Stevens
"I need real plays being made on all 200 feet. (Aho) is an unselfish guy. If somebody's open, he's going to pass the puck. It's a seamless transition. When you have elite players and super-competitive players, you can play them anywhere." -- Hurricanes coach Bill Peters

Kings projected lineup
Hurricanes projected lineup

Brock McGinn -- Jordan Staal -- Elias Lindholm
Teuvo Teravainen -- Victor Rask -- Justin Williams
Jeff Skinner -- Sebastian Aho -- Lee Stempniak
Joakim Nordstrom -- Derek Ryan -- Phillip Di Giuseppe
Jaccob Slavin -- Brett Pesce
Haydn Fleury -- Justin Faulk
Noah Hanifin -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Cam Ward
Scott Darling
Scratched:Klas Dahlbeck
Injured:None

Status report

Lewis, who was injured against the Florida Panthers on Friday, was evaluated again Monday, according to Stevens, who said he does not consider Lewis day-to-day but does not anticipate a long absence.

Stat pack

The Kings are 5-2-0 in their past seven, allowing five goals in the wins. Doughty leads all NHL defensemen in ice time at 27:01. … The Hurricanes are 17-for-17 on the penalty kill in the past seven games.