Kings at Penguins preview

KINGS (30-21-5) at PENGUINS (32-22-4)
7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN1, SNP, ATTSN-PT, FS-W, NHL.TV

If his immigration paperwork doesn't go through in time, Phaneuf, who skated on a fourth defense pair with Paul LaDue during the morning skate, would not be eligible to play. He was traded from the Ottawa Senators, along with forward Nate Thompson, to the Kings for forwards Marian Gaborik and Nicholas Shore during Ottawa's 6-3 loss to Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
The Kings are one point behind the third-place Calgary Flames in the Pacific Division and three points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
The Penguins are three points behind the Metropolitan Division-leading Washington Capitals, who have two games in hand.
Pittsburgh will look to extend its season-long home winning streak to 10 games. It is their longest since they won a team-record 13 straight at home from Nov. 15, 2013, to Jan. 15, 2014.

Players to watch

Kings forward Anze Kopitar has eight points (four goals, four assists) during a five-game point streak and 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in his past 12 games.
Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin has 16 points (10 goals, six assists) in his past eight games and 27 points (17 goals, 10 assists) in his past 16.

They said it

"If [Phaneuf] is not able to play, then we have seven healthy guys to move in." -- Kings coach John Stevens
"We have to play a speed game. [The Kings] are big and physical. … If we use our speed, that's our biggest strength. That'll be tonight's game plan." -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Tanner Pearson -- Adrian Kempe -- Tyler Toffoli
Jonny Brodzinski -- Torrey Mitchell -- Kyle Clifford
Andy Andreoff -- Nate Thompson -- Michael Amadio
Jake Muzzin -- Drew Doughty
Kevin Gravel -- Alec Martinez
Derek Forbort -- Christian Folin
Jonathan Quick
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched:Paul LaDue, Michael Mersch, Dion Phaneuf
Injured: Jeff Carter (lower body), Trevor Lewis (upper body)

Penguins projected lineup

Zach Aston-Reese
-- Sidney Crosby -- Conor Sheary
Carl Hagelin -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust
Jake Guentzel -- Riley Sheahan -- Phil Kessel
Dominik Simon -- Carter Rowney -- Ryan Reaves
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Olli Maatta -- Justin Schultz
Ian Cole -- Jamie Oleksiak
Matt Murray
Tristan Jarry
Scratched: Chad Ruhwedel, Matt Hunwick, Teddy Blueger
Injured:Patric Hornqvist (lower body), Tom Kuhnhackl (lower body)

Status report

Thompson is expected to debut for the Kings. He missed his past four games with the Senators because of a lower-body injury. … Hornqvist skated by himself Wednesday and before the morning skate Thursday. He has missed five games with a lower-body injury.

Stat pack

The Kings have outscored their opponents 73-36 in the third period. … Murray will play his 100th NHL game. He is 61-24-7 with a 2.54 goals against average and .918 save percentage.