Kings at Hurricanes preview

KINGS (23-32-7) at HURRICANES (33-23-6)
7 p.m. ET; FS-W, FS-SE, NHL.TV

The Hurricanes are 11-3-1 in their past 15 games and hold the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Goalie Petr Mrazek, who has two shutouts in his past four games, will start for Carolina.
The Kings hope to end an eight-game losing streak (0-5-3), their longest since they lost a team record 11 in a row (nine in regulation, two in overtime) from March 16-April 4, 2004. Los Angeles has been outscored 32-20 during its eight-game skid.

Players to watch

Kings forward Ilya Kovalchuk has 74 points (37 goals, 37 assists) in 59 games against the Hurricanes.
Hurricanes forward Justin Williams has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his past 12 games.

They said it

"There's a lot of guys who have never been in this situation. Unfortunately, I have. The deadline has passed, but if you want to be a King you've got to play like a King. Twenty games until the end of the year, but 20 games to the end of a bad season where there will probably be changes regardless." -- Kings forward Dustin Brown
"We don't really worry about the other team. If we play our game, it doesn't really matter who we're playing. I watched (the Kings') game last night. They took on Tampa Bay and could have beat them, the best team in hockey in their building."-- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Ilya Kovalchuk -- Jeff Carter -- Tyler Toffoli
Brendan Leipsic -- Adrian Kempe -- Jonny Brodzinski
Kyle Clifford -- Trevor Lewis -- Austin Wagner
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Paul LaDue -- Matt Roy
Dion Phaneuf -- Sean Walker
Jonathan Quick
Jack Campbell
Scratched: None
Injured:Alec Martinez (upper body)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Nino Niederreiter -- Sebastian Aho -- Justin Williams
Micheal Ferland -- Jordan Staal -- Teuvo Teravainen
Andrei Svechnikov -- Jordan Martinook -- Brock McGinn
Saku Maenalanen -- Lucas Wallmark -- Warren Foegele
Jaccob Slavin -- Dougie Hamilton
Brett Pesce -- Justin Faulk
Calvin de Haan -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Petr Mrazek
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Greg McKegg
Injured:None

Status report

The Kings did not hold a morning skate. … McKegg will be a healthy scratch after playing in all 23 games since his recall from Charlotte of the American Hockey League on Jan. 4.

Stat pack

Kopitar has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his past 14 games. … Quick is 6-3-0 with a 2.08 goals-against average, .935 save percentage and two shutouts against the Hurricanes. ... Aho has 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists) in his past 19 games. … Teravainen has 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in his past 19 games.