The Boston Bruins continue their four-game road trip Tuesday night in Los Angeles against the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings, one day after losing to the Anaheim Ducks 3-2.
Tuesday’s matchup is a difficult one because the Kings are among the NHL’s best home teams. L.A.’s 10 wins on home ice are tied for the most in the league. The Kings are 10-3-1 overall at Staples Center, where they defeated the Bruins 4-2 last season.
This is the first meeting between the teams this season.
Boston likely will use the same lineup against Los Angeles that it did Monday night in Anaheim, but it’s possible starting goaltender Tuukka Rask could get a rest. He has started in four consecutive games and is 1-2-1 in that span, although the Bruins’ offense hasn’t given him much help with an average of just 1.50 goals scored.
Backup netminder Niklas Svedberg’s last appearance was a 4-3 shootout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 21.
Kings defenseman Alec Martinez (finger) and winger Marian Gaborik (upper body) did not play Nov. 29 against the Chicago Blackhawks because of injuries, and their statuses for Tuesday’s game are uncertain.
Here are the projected lineups for Bruins-Kings:
BOSTON BRUINS (14-10-1, fourth in Atlantic)
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak
Milan Lucic-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson
Reilly Smith-Chris Kelly-Matt Fraser/Seth Griffith
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Simon Gagne/Craig Cunningham
Dennis Seidenberg-Torey Krug
Joe Morrow-Dougie Hamilton
Matt Bartkowski-Kevan Miller
Niklas Svedberg
LOS ANGELES KINGS (12-7-5, fourth in Pacific)
Tanner Pearson-Anze Kopitar-Jeff Carter
Dustin Brown-Jarret Stoll-Justin Williams
Dwight King-Mike Richards-Jordan Nolan
Kyle Clifford-Trevor Lewis-Tyler Toffoli
Jake Muzzin-Drew Doughty
Brayden McNabb-Matt Greene
Robyn Regehr-Jamie McBain
Jonathan Quick
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press
