Golden Knights at Kings preview

GOLDEN KNIGHTS (43-31-7) at KINGS (30-42-9)
10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV

The Golden Knights, who will finish third in the Pacific Division and face the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference First Round, are 1-4-2 in their past seven games after losing 4-1 to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.
The Kings will finish last in the Western Conference for the first time since 2007-08. They are playing the second game of a back-to-back after losing 5-2 at the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.

Players to watch

Golden Knights center William Karlsson has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his past 10 games. He has one goal in four games against the Kings this season.
Kings center Anze Kopitar has five assists in his past six games. He has two points (one goal, one assist) in four games against the Golden Knights.

They said it

"We didn't play a strong game against Arizona at all, so we have to get back to the basics, get back to simplifying our game. We want to play to our identity." -- Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch
"I think it's a chance for the younger guys to show what they can do. I think it's a tough situation for some of the veteran players, but it's a home game, so I look forward to it." -- Kings coach Willie Desjardins

Golden Knights projected lineup

Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty -- Paul Stastny -- Mark Stone
Ryan Carpenter -- Cody Eakin -- Alex Tuch
William Carrier -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Valentin Zykov
Nate Schmidt -- Brayden McNabb
Nick Holden -- Shea Theodore
Jimmy Schuldt -- Deryk Engelland
Marc-Andre Fleury
Malcolm Subban
Scratched:Colin Miller, Jon Merrill, Brandon Pirri, Ryan Reaves, Tomas Nosek
Injured:Erik Haula (lower body)

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Carl Grundstrom -- Adrian Kempe -- Tyler Toffoli
Kyle Clifford -- Blake Lizotte -- Trevor Lewis
Austin Wagner -- Michael Amadio -- Jonny Brodzinski
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Alec Martinez -- Matt Roy
Paul LaDue -- Sean Walker
Jonathan Quick
Jack Campbell
Scratched:Dion Phaneuf, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jeff Carter
Injured:Kurtis MacDermid (upper body), Brendan Leipsic (lower body)

Status report

Schuldt will make his NHL debut after signing an entry-level contract Wednesday. … Lizotte will make his NHL debut after signing an entry-level contract Tuesday. He had 69 points (22 goals, 47 assists) in two seasons at St. Cloud State, where Lizotte and Schuldt were teammates.

Stat pack

Karlsson needs one assist for 100 in his NHL career. Smith and Marchessault each has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in his past 10 games. … Brown has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past 10 games. … The Kings are 5-3-1 since being eliminated from playoff contention, including a 3-1-0 record at home.