Kings at Blue Jackets preview

KINGS (5-0-1) at BLUE JACKETS (5-2-0)
7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-W, NHL.TV

Carter was injured in the last minute of the first period on a hit from Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry during the Kings' 5-1 win. Carter has three assists in six games this season.
Los Angeles, which has won three straight, is the only NHL team without a regulation loss and has its best start in history.
With a win or overtime loss, the Kings would have points in seven consecutive games to open the season, which would tie their record set in 1995-96, when they started 4-0-3.
The Blue Jackets can establish their best start, bettering the 5-3-0 records in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

Players to watch

Center Brooks Laich, 34, is expected to make his Kings debut after signing a one-year $650,000 contract on Thursday. He has 331 points (134 goals, 197 assists) in 764 NHL games during 12 seasons with the Ottawa Senators, Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is 4-1-0 with a 1.58 goals-against average and a .948 save percentage.

They said it

"I'm not going to come in and try and replace [Jeff Carter]. I'll try to do the things that brought me here today. I'm a skating centerman. I like to make plays, shoot the puck and go to the net. Little things matter. I want to help my linemates and defensemen play a five-man game." -- Kings center Brooks Laich
"He drags guys into the fight with him with the way he plays. He's a reckless player, and that's a compliment that he can play that bang-crash style, but also has the skill to go along with it." -- Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno on the possible return from injury of forward Boone Jenner

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Tanner Pearson -- Nicholas Shore -- Tyler Toffoli
Michael Cammalleri -- Adrian Kempe -- Trevor Lewis
Andy Andreoff -- Brooks Laich -- Justin Auger
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin -- Oscar Fantenberg
Christian Folin -- Alec Martinez
Jonathan Quick
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: Nic Dowd, Kurtis MacDermid
Injured: Kyle Clifford (upper body), Marian Gaborik (knee), Jeff Carter (leg)

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Alex Wennberg -- Cam Atkinson
Boone Jenner -- Nick Foligno -- Oliver Bjorkstrand
Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Josh Anderson
Sonny Milano -- Lukas Sedlak -- Matt Calvert
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Jack Johnson -- David Savard
Ryan Murray -- Markus Nutivaara
Joonas Korpisalo
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Scott Harrington, Zac Dalpe
Injured: Gabriel Carlsson (upper body)

Status report

Jenner is expected to make his season debut after being out with a back injury. He had 34 points (18 goals, 16 assists) last season.

Stat pack

The Kings, who start a six-game trip, will play outside of California for the first time this season. Their lone road game was a 4-1 win at the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 7. … Wennberg is one assist shy of 100 in the NHL. He has 125 points (26 goals, 99 assists) in 224 games.