Kings at Lightning preview

KINGS (18-25-4) at LIGHTNING (27-14-4)
7 p.m. ET; SUN, FS-W, NHL.TV

The defenseman will also play in his 458th consecutive game, a Kings' record.
Los Angeles has lost four of its past five games and is 3-7-1 in its past 11.
Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy will start and try for his ninth consecutive win. He has won by shutout in his past two games and has a .946 save percentage in his past eight starts.
Tampa Bay has won 10 of its past 11 games and had a franchise record-tying 10-game winning streak end with a 3-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, with backup goalie Curtis McElhinney making the start.

Players to Watch

Kings forward Alex Iafallo has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in the past 10 games.
Lightning center Steven Stamkos has seven points (two goals, five assists) In the past five games.

They said it

"Our engine's getting better, and I think that reverts all the way back to training camp and practice. The pace that we practice at now is starting to show up in a game, and a little more game management -- handing off healthy shifts instead of tired shifts to the next line is important. We're getting all of this as we try and improve." -- Kings coach Todd McLellan
"If we can go 10-1 in every 11-game stretch we'll take that. At some point you're gonna' lose a hockey game or two. But I said this after the [New Jersey Devils] game, we played ourselves back in the race." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper

Kings projected lineup

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

Lightning projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Steven Stamkos -- Anthony Cirelli -- Tyler Johnson
Alex Killorn -- Cedric Paquette -- Yanni Gourde
Carter Verhaeghe -- Mitchell Stephens -- Alexander Volkov
Victor Hedman -- Jan Rutta
Mikhail Sergachev -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Braydon Coburn -- Erik Cernak
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Luke Schenn
Injured: Pat Maroon (upper body), Ryan McDonagh (upper body)

Status Report

McDonagh skated Tuesday and Cooper said he hopes to see the defenseman back in the lineup before the end of the week. … McLellan said Lizotte, a forward, would not be available for the final three games of this five-game road trip.

Stat Pack

Toffoli has six points (three goals, three assists) in the past seven games. …Kopitar has seven points (two goals, five assists) in the past seven games. …Kucherov has nine points (four goals, five assists) in the past eight games. …Point has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in the past nine games.