Golden Knights at Kings preview
Carter to play 1,000th NHL game; Vegas seeks first win in five games
by Dan Greenspan / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
GOLDEN KNIGHTS (9-8-3) at KINGS (7-11-1)
4 p.m. ET; SNE, SNO, SNP, FS-W, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV
The Game
Jeff Carter will play his 1,000th NHL game when the Los Angeles Kings host the Vegas Golden Knights at Staples Center on Saturday.
The 34-year-old forward has 712 points (370 goals, 342 assists) in 15 NHL seasons. He has 344 points (174 goals, 170 assists) in 499 games with the Kings and has won the Stanley Cup with them twice (2012, 2014).
The Golden Knights will try to end a four-game winless streak. They are 0-3-1 in their past four after losing 5-3 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday. Vegas has allowed at least three goals in three straight games (0-2-1) and in six of its past nine (2-4-3).
Los Angeles will try to win three consecutive games for the first time this season after defeating the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in overtime on Thursday.
Players to watch
Golden Knights center William Karlsson had a goal and an assist against the Blackhawks and has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past nine games.
Kings center Anze Kopitar has a five-game point streak (three goals, five assists) and a three-game goal streak.
They said it
"Yeah, we got to get back to being pesky. The pesky Knights, that's when we're good. If we can get back to that and try to shift the momentum to our favor, I think it can be a good outcome." -- Golden Knights center William Karlsson
"I've never been a real flashy guy. I think I've kind of stuck to what has got me to where I am, and that's straight lines and trying to work hard every day and not straying from that path." -- Kings forward Jeff Carter on reaching 1,000 NHL games played
Golden Knights projected lineup
Max Pacioretty -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
Jonathan Marchessault -- Cody Eakin -- Mark Stone
Cody Glass -- Paul Stastny -- Alex Tuch
William Carrier -- Nicolas Roy -- Ryan Reaves
Brayden McNabb -- Nate Schmidt
Jon Merrill -- Nick Holden
Nicolas Hague -- Shea Theodore
Marc-Andre Fleury
Malcolm Subban
Scratched: Deryk Engelland, Brandon Pirri, Tomas Nosek
Injured: None
Suspended: Valentin Zykov
Kings projected lineup
Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Jeff Carter -- Michael Amadio -- Tyler Toffoli
Adrian Kempe -- Blake Lizotte -- Austin Wagner
Matt Luff -- Nikolai Prokhorkin -- Kyle Clifford
Sean Walker -- Drew Doughty
Ben Hutton -- Alec Martinez
Joakim Ryan -- Matt Roy
Jonathan Quick
Jack Campbell
Scratched: Ilya Kovalchuk, Carl Grundstrom, Kurtis MacDermid
Injured: Trevor Lewis (lower body), Derek Forbort (back)
Status report
Eakin practiced Friday after leaving in the third period against the Blackhawks because of cramps. … The Golden Knights are expected to use the same lines after shuffling them against the Blackhawks. … The Kings are expected to use the same lineup for the second straight game.
Stat pack
Iafallo has four points (one goal, three assists) during a three-game point streak. … Quick is 2-2-0 with a 2.29 goals-against average and .917 save percentage in four starts in November. He was 2-6-0 with a 4.55 goals-against average and .858 save percentage in eight starts in October. … Marchessault has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past eight games. … Pacioretty has four goals in his past six games.