Kings at Blue Jackets preview

KINGS (15-18-3) at BLUE JACKETS (14-14-6)
7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-W, NHL.TV

The Kings have won two straight and are 4-0-1 in their past five games after going 2-6-1 in their previous nine. Los Angeles is also riding a season-long four-game road point streak (3-0-1).
The Blue Jackets also have won consecutive games and are 3-0-2 in their past five following a four-game losing streak.

Players to watch

Kings center Anze Kopitar has 34 points (17 goals, 17 assists) in 37 games against Columbus and is one goal from tying Bernie Nicholls (327) for fourth place on Los Angeles' all-time list.
Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson has scored five of his nine goals this season in his past seven games.

They said it

"I would like to think this Columbus team will motivate us because they are a pretty straightforward, meats and potatoes, hard-working hockey club. If we're not aware or prepared for that they'll surprise us pretty quickly." -- Kings coach Todd McLellan
"We've got a lot of guys contributing now. You're going to need guys to continue. It's goals by committee, really. That's how we're eventually going to win all these games." -- Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Kyle Clifford -- Jeff Carter -- Trevor Lewis
Tyler Toffoli -- Michael Amadio -- Nikolai Prokhorkin
Adrian Kempe -- Blake Lizotte -- Austin Wagner
Joakim Ryan -- Drew Doughty
Ben Hutton -- Matt Roy
Kurtis MacDermid -- Sean Walker
Jack Campbell
Jonathan Quick
Scratched: Matt Luff, Kale Clague
Injured: Derek Forbort (upper body), Alec Martinez (lower body)

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Alexandre Texier -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Eric Robinson
Gustav Nyquist -- Boone Jenner -- Oliver Bjorkstrand
Nick Foligno -- Alex Wennberg -- Cam Atkinson
Marko Dano -- Riley Nash -- Kevin Stenlund
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Vladislav Gavrikov -- David Savard
Dean Kukan -- Scott Harrington
Joonas Korpisalo
Elvis Merzlikins
Scratched: None
Injured: Brandon Dubinsky (wrist), Emil Bemstrom (rib), Markus Nutivaara (upper body), Ryan Murray (lower body), Sonny Milano (upper body), Josh Anderson (shoulder), Andrew Peeke (hand)

Status report

Brown did not participate in the morning skate because of an illness; McLellan said he'll be a game-time decision. … Harrington replaces Peeke, who was injured in a 5-3 win at the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.

Stat pack

Toffoli has eight points (three goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak. … Carter has four points (two goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak and 20 points (13 goals, seven assists) in 19 games against the Blue Jackets. … Texier has four points (two goals, two assists) in a three-game point streak. … Korpisalo is 3-0-2 with a 1.69 goals-against average and .943 save percentage in his past five games.