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The Los Angeles Kings picked a good time to have their longest winning streak of the season. The Kings, winners of six straight games, conclude their four-game homestand against the Boston Bruins Saturday night at Staples Center. The Kings open play on Saturday tied for first place in the Pacific Division with eight games remaining in the regular season.
The Kings (37-25-12) are tied with the Phoenix Coyotes at 86 points, good for the sixth-best record in the Western Conference, though the division champion would get the third seed in the playoffs. But the Kings are also just two points ahead of the 10th-place San Jose Sharks, so every game is important from here on out.
"You can win and not gain any ground. It's crazy," coach Darryl Sutter told NHL.com . "It doesn't mean [anything]. The bottom line is we pretty much have to overcome something that's pretty much insurmountable. We'll try to take advantage of what we have at home. It doesn't get any easier."
The Kings are 10-3 since trading for Jeff Carter, and have scored 3.23 goals per game, a scoring increase of over 50% since before his arrival. The Kings lost to the Bruins in Boston 3-0 on December 13.
Saturday night's 6 p.m. PDT game will be televised by Fox Sports West and NHL Network. For more news and information on Kings hockey, be sure to read Jewels From The Crown.