Preview: Kings at Red Wings

KINGS (14-12-2) at RED WINGS (13-13-4)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, FS-D, NHL.TV

Kings team scope

The Los Angeles Kings make their second stop on a season-long nine-game road trip Thursday, playing for the final time at Joe Louis Arena. The Kings began the trip with a 6-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, when Los Angeles gave up four second-period goals after taking a 2-0 lead. The Kings are 1-2-1 in their past four games after going 6-1-0 in their previous seven. "We can't keep giving away games like that," said Kings captain Anze Kopitar, who needs a point to reach 700 in his NHL career. "There's a lot of hockey left, but this trip is one time where we have to leave it all on the ice." Defenseman Drew Doughty said he loves Joe Louis Arena, but isn't fond of the on-ice memories. "I spent a lot of games here where I was minus-2 and just watching Nick Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and all those guys skate around me," he said with a laugh. "There's great history here, but I'm looking forward to the new place."

Red Wings team scope

The Detroit Red Wings will have defenseman Jonathan Ericsson back in the lineup after he missed the past three games with back spasms. He will replace Alexey Marchenko, who left Detroit's 4-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday after aggravating a shoulder injury. In the first three games of a five-game homestand, the Red Wings are 0-2-1 and have been outscored 9-2. "We've got to find a way to score some goals and win some games," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "We're not playing badly, but we have to put the puck in the net." Detroit is 6-8-3 at home and 5-7-3 in its past 15 games. Forward Darren Helm, out since Nov. 15 with an upper-body injury, skated Thursday morning and is hoping to be back in early 2017. "New Year's is my goal, but I'm going to be smart," he said. "I don't want to push it and end up needing surgery, because that ends my season."

Kings projected lineup

Marian Gaborik -- Anze Kopitar -- Trevor Lewis
Dwight King -- Jeff Carter -- Tyler Toffoli
Tanner Pearson -- Nicholas Shore -- Dustin Brown
Kyle Clifford -- Andy Andreoff -- Jordan Nolan
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin -- Alec Martinez
Kevin Gravel -- Matt Greene
Jeff Zatkoff
Peter Budaj
Scratched: Tom Gilbert, Devin Setoguchi, Nic Dowd
Injured: Brayden McNabb (upper body), Jonathan Quick (lower body)

Red Wings projected lineup

Anthony Mantha -- Henrik Zetterberg -- Thomas Vanek
Gustav Nyquist -- Riley Sheahan -- Tomas Tatar
Luke Glendening -- Frans Nielsen -- Dylan Larkin
Tomas Jurco -- Andreas Athanasiou -- Steve Ott
Danny DeKeyser -- Mike Green
Brian Lashoff-- Jonathan Ericsson
Niklas Kronwall -- Xavier Ouellet
Jimmy Howard
Petr Mrazek
Scratched: Drew Miller, Ryan Sproul
Injured:Darren Helm (upper body), Brendan Smith (lower body), Tyler Bertuzzi (ankle), Justin Abdelkader (lower body), Alexey Marchenko (shoulder)

Status report

Doughty didn't skate Thursday morning but said he's going to play. "It was supposed to be an optional skate, but everyone went out there other than me," he said. "I'm ready - we need a win, and I'm going to need my A-game." … Detroit native Jeff Zatkoff is expected to start in goal for the Kings. … The Red Wings held an optional morning skate and Blashill said he wouldn't announce his lineup until after warmups. "We had a good 30-minute practice yesterday, and we can't work them so hard that they have no energy for the games," he said. "I told them to show up today if they needed to get their hands and feet moving."

Who's hot

Carter has four goals and an assist in his past four games, and 13 points (nine goals, four assists) in his past 11. … Kopitar has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past five games.