Kings at Avalanche preview

KINGS (19-25-4) at AVALANCHE (21-18-8)
3 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-W, NHL.TV

Jonathan Quick is expected to start for the Kings, who are 2-0-1 in their past three games after going 1-4-0 in the previous five. He is 6-3-1 in his past 10 games with a 2.18 goals-against average and .926 save percentage, and made 22 saves in a 3-2 overtime win against the Avalanche on Dec. 31.
The Avalanche are coming off a 1-4-0 road trip and have gone 2-8-2 in the past 12 games. They've allowed five or more goals in four of the past seven games.

Players to watch

Kings forward Jeff Carter has five points (two goals, three assists) in a three-game point streak.
Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen has nine points (five goals, four assists) in the past six games.

They said it

"Overall, our group's battling pretty hard. These are tough games to come on the road and get points. To get three (points) out of four is good so far, and we have to be good (Saturday)." -- Kings coach Willie Desjardins
"Miraculously, we're sitting in a (Stanley Cup Playoff) spot. No other year that you go through a stretch like we went through that we'd be anywhere near a spot. We are because other teams are struggling the same way we are. So, consider ourselves lucky to this point, that's what I say." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar

Kings projected lineup

Carl Hagelin -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Alex Iafallo -- Jeff Carter -- Brendan Leipsic
Ilya Kovalchuk -- Adrian Kempe -- Tyler Toffoli
Kyle Clifford -- Nate Thompson -- Austin Wagner
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin -- Alec Martinez
Dion Phaneuf --
Sean Walker
Jonathan Quick
Jack Campbell
Scratched:Paul LaDue, Matt Luff
Injured: Jonny Brodzinski (shoulder), Oscar Fantenberg (lower body), Trevor Lewis (foot)

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Colin Wilson -- Carl Soderberg -- J.T. Compher
Sven Andrighetto -- Alex Kerfoot -- Matt Calvert
Matt Nieto --
Sheldon Dries
-- Gabriel Bourque
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Ian Cole -- Tyson Barrie
Nikita Zadorov -- Patrik Nemeth
Semyon Varlamov
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched: Mark Barberio
Injured: Vladislav Kamenev (shoulder)

Status report

Muzzin was given a maintenance day Friday and is expected to play. Fantenburg didn't practice and won't play. "He's close, I don't think he's a long-term guy," Desjardins said. … The Avalanche assigned forward Tyson Jost, their first-round pick (No. 10) in the 2016 NHL Draft, and defenseman Ryan Graves to Colorado of the American Hockey League.

Stat pack

Brown has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past 11 games. … MacKinnon has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his past 11 games.