Blue Jackets at Kings preview

BLUE JACKETS (7-5-0) at KINGS (3-8-1)
10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, FS-O, NHL.TV

The Blue Jackets are 4-1-0 away from Nationwide Arena, including a 4-1 win at the San Jose Sharks on Thursday to open a three-game California road trip.
The Kings have lost seven of their past eight. They are allowing 3.67 goals per game, tied with Columbus for 25th in the NHL, and have given up at least three goals in each of their past eight games.

Players to watch

Columbus forward Josh Anderson has scored in each of his past two games and has four points (three goals, one assist) in his past four. Anderson scored Columbus' first shorthanded goal of the season against San Jose.
Los Angeles forward Ilya Kovalchuk has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past two games.

They said it

"The consistency that we have is how inconsistent we are. But I think that's something we can learn from." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella
"It's not always going to be pretty, it's a fast game. But when things do break down, it's got to be broken down at one mistake, not two or three." -- Kings forward Kyle Clifford

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson
Nick Foligno -- Boone Jenner -- Josh Anderson
Oliver Bjorkstrand -- Alex Wennberg -- Anthony Duclair
Riley Nash -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Markus Hannikainen
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Ryan Murray -- Markus Nutivaara
Scott Harrington -- David Savard
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched:Adam Clendening, Dean Kukan, Lukas Sedlak
Injured:None

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Tanner Pearson -- Jeff Carter -- Tyler Toffoli
Ilya Kovalchuk -- Adrian Kempe -- Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford -- Nate Thompson -- Matt Luff
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin -- Alec Martinez
Dion Phaneuf -- Oscar Fantenberg
Jack Campbell
Peter Budaj
Scratched:Michael Amadio
Injured:Jonathan Quick (knee), Paul LaDue (upper body), Jonny Brodzinski (shoulder)

Status report

Dubinsky is expected to return after missing 10 games with strained oblique. Sonny Milano was assigned to Cleveland of the American Hockey League to open a roster spot. … Luff is expected to make his NHL debut. … LaDue will miss his second game after he was injured in practice Wednesday.

Stat pack

The Blue Jackets have not scored a power-play goal in seven of their past eight games (2-for-27). … Los Angeles is 8-2-0 in its past 10 home games against Columbus.