Kings at Avalanche preview
Phaneuf returns for Los Angeles; Colorado seeks to avoid fifth straight loss
by Rick Sadowski / NHL.com Correspondent
KINGS (15-21-3) at AVALANCHE (19-13-7)
8 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-W, NHL.TV
The Game
Tyson Jost will replace Gabriel Landeskog on the Colorado Avalanche top line against the Los Angeles Kings at Pepsi Center on Monday.
Jost will be on left wing with center Nathan MacKinnon and right wing Mikko Rantanen. He has 11 points (four goals, 11 assists) in 35 games this season and has gone 15 games without a goal.
Landeskog will play left wing on the second line, with center Alexander Kerfoot and right wing J.T. Compher. The Avalanche have lost four straight games (0-3-1) and are 2-6-2 in the past 10.
Defenseman Dion Phaneuf will return for the Kings after missing seven games because of an upper-body injury. The Kings are 4-1-1 in their past six games and 5-3-2 in their past 10.
Players to watch
Kings center Anze Kopitar has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past nine games and needs one goal for 300 in his NHL career. He has 43 points (17 goals, 26 assists) in 42 games against Colorado.
Rantanen has 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists) in his past 20 games. He's second in NHL scoring with 61 points and second in assists with 44.
They said it
"I had a good couple of practices to get my feet back underneath me and tonight I'll be ready to go." - Kings defenseman Dion Phaneuf
"(Changing lines) is more just trying to see if we can spark a few guys. You're going to see Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen together tonight for sure. (Landeskog) did a real nice job helping Kerfoot and Compher (Saturday); they were excited to play with him." - Avalanche coach Jared Bednar
Kings projected lineup
Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Jeff Carter -- Adrian Kempe -- Tyler Toffoli
Kyle Clifford - Nate Thompson -- Matt Luff
Ilya Kovalchuk - Austin Wagner -- Brendan Leipsic
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin -- Sean Walker
Oscar Fantenberg -- Dion Phaneuf
Jonathan Quick
Jack Campbell
Scratched: Paul LaDue, Nikita Scherbak
Injured: Jonny Brodzinski (shoulder), Carl Hagelin (knee), Trevor Lewis (foot), Alec Martinez (upper body)
Avalanche projected lineup
Tyson Jost -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Gabriel Landeskog -- Alexander Kerfoot -- J.T. Compher
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Matt Calvert
Gabriel Bourque - Sheldon Dries -- Logan O'Connor
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Ian Cole -- Tyson Barrie
Ryan Graves -- Patrik Nemeth
Semyon Varlamov
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched: Sven Andrighetto
Injured: Mark Barberio (upper body), Vladislav Kamenev (shoulder), Colin Wilson (upper body), Nikita Zadorov (lower body)
Status report
Campbell was recalled from Ontario of the American Hockey League after a conditioning assignment. He missed 19 games with a knee injury. The Kings assigned forward Michael Amadio and goalie Cal Petersen to Ontario … O'Connor was recalled from Colorado of the AHL and will make his NHL debut.
Stat pack
Iafallo has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past nine games … MacKinnon has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in his past 11 games.