Kings at Blues preview
Los Angeles, St. Louis share NHL lead with 19 points each
by Louie Korac / NHL.com Correspondent
KINGS (9-1-1) at BLUES (9-2-1)
8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, FS-W, NHL.TV
The Game
Two of the NHL's best teams will face off when the Los Angeles Kings play the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center on Monday.
The Kings and Blues are tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the League lead with 19 points. The Kings are off to their best start after 11 games since 1980-81 (9-1, one tie), have won three straight and are 4-1-0 so far during a six-game road trip.
The Blues are the League's only unbeaten team at home (4-0-0) and have points in five straight games (4-0-1).
Players to watch
Kings defenseman Drew Doughty will play his 700th NHL game. Doughty has 370 points (95 goals, 275 assists) in 10 seasons, including eight points (three goals, eight assists) in 11 games this season.
Blues center Brayden Schenn has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 12 games this season. He was selected by the Kings with the No. 5 pick of the 2009 NHL Draft and played nine games for them before he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers on June 23, 2011.
Video: STL@CAR: Schenn snaps rebound into wide-open net
They said it
"I've watched St. Louis since the start of the year. They've had a lot of injuries and their biggest focus has been on their team game. I think because of that they've been able to absorb a lot of injuries and still have a lot of success. I think their team game is very good." -- Kings coach John Stevens
"It's going to be a fun game. It's another team that's going. Their top guys are going really well right now. [Anze] Kopitar looks really good, Doughty looks really good and their supporting cast, I'd say everybody is on top of their game." -- Blues coach Mike Yeo
Kings projected lineup
Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Tanner Pearson -- Adrian Kempe -- Tyler Toffoli
Michael Cammalleri -- Brooks Laich -- Trevor Lewis
Andy Andreoff -- Michael Amadio -- Nic Dowd
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin -- Alec Martinez
Kurtis MacDermid -- Christian Folin
Jonathan Quick
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: Oscar Fantenberg, Nick Shore
Injured: Marian Gaborik (knee), Kyle Clifford (upper body), Jeff Carter (lower body)
Blues projected lineup
Vladimir Sobotka -- Paul Stastny -- Alexander Steen
Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Magnus Paajarvi -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Beau Bennett
Scottie Upshall -- Kyle Brodziak -- Dmitrij Jaskin
Carl Gunnarsson -- Alex Pietrangelo
Joel Edmundson -- Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn -- Robert Bortuzzo
Jake Allen
Carter Hutton
Scratched: Nate Prosser, Chris Thorburn, Ville Husso
Injured: Jay Bouwmeester (ankle), Patrik Berglund (shoulder) and Zach Sanford (shoulder)
Status report
Shore, who has missed the past two games because of an undisclosed injury, took part in the morning skate but will not play. ... Berglund and Bouwmeester have started skating.
Stat pack
Quick leads NHL goalies with a .946 save percentage but is 8-10-3 with a 2.23 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in 21 games against the Blues. Kopitar has 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists) in 39 games against the Blues. ... Stastny has 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) in 36 games against the Kings.