Kicking off the new year, the Kings will face their toughest week yet. Set to face off against three divisional leaders, the Kings will play two weekday games at home before hitting the road for a matchup between the Pacific Division's top two teams in the desert.
Beginning with the Central Division's top team, the 23-9-6 Dallas Stars come to town for a national broadcast on ESPN on Tuesday night. Set for a 7 PM puck drop, the Kings and Stars will go head to head for the second and final time this season. In their previous matchup back on November 1st in Dallas, the Stars came out victorious 5-2 behind a four-goal second period. Moving to present day, the Stars enter Tuesday night's game on a four-game winning streak having outscored their opponents 16-7 during that span. The Stars are led by Arcadia-native Jason Robertson, who ranks third in the NHL in points with 54 (25-29-54).
The Kings second of two home games this upcoming week will be against the NHL's top team; the 28-4-4 Boston Bruins. Having faced the Bruins in Boston on December 15th, the Kings handed the B's just their second loss at home on the year at the time. The Bruins are elite in many categories including special teams where they rank first in the NHL in penalty kill (84.7%) and fifth in power play percentage (27.6%). Two more important categories where the Bruins excel are in the face-off circle, where they are winning 56.4% of the draws (2nd in the NHL) and in goals against per game, allowing a league low 2.19 GA/GP. Leading the way offensively for the Bruins is David Pastrnak who tops his team in goals (25), assists (25) and points (50).
Following the pair of home games, the Kings will head to Vegas for a weekend bout against the Pacific Division leading Golden Knights. It will be the team's last regular season tilt against each other as the two have met twice before in Los Angeles. In their only trip to Las Vegas, the Kings and Golden Knights will be looking to decide a split series. The Kings won their most previous matchup just one week ago 4-2, but lost the season opener on home ice 4-3 on a last minute Golden Knights game-winning goal. Golden Knights captain Mark Stone will be one to watch as the right wing has recorded 35 points (16-19=35) in 38 games this season. Over their last 10 games in Sin City, the Kings are 5-5-0.
