Avalanche at Kings preview

AVALANCHE (41-19-8) at KINGS (27-35-6)
10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-W, ALT2, NHL.TV

The Avalanche, who are playing the second of a back-to-back following a 4-3 win at the San Jose Sharks on Sunday, are two points behind the St. Louis Blues, who host the Florida Panthers on Monday.
Colorado is 1-1-1 in its past three games after winning seven straight.
The Kings have won a season-high five straight games and are 6-1-1 in their past eight in Los Angeles.

Players to watch

Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) during an eight-game point streak, one shy of tying his NHL career high he set from Jan. 24-Feb. 8, 2014.
Kings forward Dustin Brown has seven points (four goals, three assists) in his past four games and needs one goal for 300 in the NHL.

They said it

"There's definite improvement in the group. I just think the consistency of our team game (is better). We talked a lot about staying committed on the defensive side of things; I think we've been doing that. We're not perfect every night, but I think there is some good, solid improvement there." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar
"We're getting very good games from some real key people up front, and I'm thinking of leaders. [Anze Kopitar], [Brown], [Alex] Iafallo, that line has been very good in playing against the opposition's top lines." -- Kings coach Todd McLellan

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Vladislav Namestnikov
Tyson Jost -- J.T. Compher -- Joonas Donskoi
Martin Kaut
-- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare --
Matt Nieto
Sheldon Dries -- Vladislav Kamenev -- Valeri Nichushkin
Samuel Girard -- Ryan Graves
Ian Cole -- Erik Johnson
Kevin Connauton -- Mark Barberio
Pavel Francouz
Michael Hutchinson
Scratched:Nikita Zadorov, Logan O'Connor
Injured:Cale Makar (upper body), Andre Burakovsky (lower body), Philipp Grubauer (lower body), Mikko Rantanen (upper body), Nazem Kadri (lower body), Colin Wilson (lower body), Matt Calvert (lower body)

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Adrian Kempe -- Blake Lizotte -- Trevor Lewis
Trevor Moore -- Gabriel Vilardi -- Martin Frk
Nikolai Prokhorkin -- Michael Amadio -- Austin Wagner
Ben Hutton -- Drew Doughty
Mikey Anderson -- Matt Roy
Kurtis MacDermid -- Sean Walker
Jonathan Quick
Cal Petersen
Scratched:Joakim Ryan
Injured:Jeff Carter (lower body)

Status report

Kaut was recalled from the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League on Monday. … Quick is expected to start after being the first goalie off the ice at practice on Monday. … Carter, a forward, continues to rehab and it is not known when he will be able to resume on-ice workouts, McLellan said.

Stat pack

MacKinnon has eight points (two goals, six assists) during a four-game point streak. … Iafallo has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past four games. … Kopitar has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past four games.