Kings at Canadiens preview
Quick seeks third straight shutout in Montreal, which tries for fifth win in seven games
by Sean Farrell / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
KINGS (5-10-1) at CANADIENS (8-5-3)
7 p.m. ET; CITY, SNE, TVAS, FS-W, NHL.TV
The Game
The Montreal Canadiens will try for their fifth win in seven games when they face the Los Angeles Kings at Bell Centre on Saturday.
Carey Price will start for Montreal, which has points in five of its past six games (4-1-1), including a 3-2 overtime loss at the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
Los Angeles is 3-8-1 in its past 12 games and has been outscored 29-13 while winning one of its past seven (1-5-1).
Kings goalie Jonathan Quick had shutouts in each of his past two starts in Montreal. He made 45 saves in a 3-0 win on Dec. 17, 2015, and 40 saves in a 4-0 win on Oct. 26, 2017.
Players to watch
Quick is 6-3-0 with a 1.88 goals-against-average, a .931 save percentage and two shutouts in nine starts against Montreal.
Carey Price is 5-2-1 with a 2.39 GAA, .922 save percentage and one shutout in his past eight starts.
They said it
"They can go, and they have no problem using full ice and we'll get tested there. So we'll know a little bit more late tonight, and how we have or have not improved." -- Kings coach Todd McLellan
"The last three games I think we've been very ordinary so moving guys around and trying to get their attention and probably get some energy is why we've done it." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien about changing his lines
Kings projected lineup
Tyler Toffoli -- Anze Kopitar -- Jeff Carter
Alex Iafallo -- Adrian Kempe -- Dustin Brown
Carl Grundstrom -- Blake Lizotte -- Austin Wagner
Ilya Kovalchuk -- Michael Amadio -- Kyle Clifford
Alec Martinez -- Drew Doughty
Ben Hutton -- Sean Walker
Joakim Ryan -- Matt Roy
Jonathan Quick
Jack Campbell
Scratched: Kurtis MacDermid, Nikolai Prokhorkin
Injured: Trevor Lewis (lower body), Derek Forbort (back)
Canadiens projected lineup
Jonathan Drouin -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Paul Byron -- Max Domi -- Joel Armia
Tomas Tatar -- Nick Suzuki -- Artturi Lehkonen
Ryan Poehling -- Nate Thompson -- Nick Cousins
Victor Mete -- Shea Weber
Ben Chiarot -- Jeff Petry
Brett Kulak -- Cale Fleury
Carey Price
Keith Kinkaid
Scratched: Jordan Weal, Mike Reilly, Christian Folin
Injured: Jesperi Kotkaniemi (groin)
Status report
Lewis was injured in the Kings' 3-2 overtime loss at the Ottawa Senators on Thursday. "It's probably a little longer than what we originally anticipated so he'll need some time to recover," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. … Kotkaniemi took part in the morning skate. "He might feel like he's ready but when he's being pushed to the max, he's not quite ready yet," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. … Kulak was a healthy scratch for the past six games.
Stat pack
Kopitar has four assists in the past three games. … Tatar has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past six games, and needs one point for 300 in the NHL. … Weber has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past five games.