Kings at Panthers preview

KINGS (18-25-5) at PANTHERS (24-16-5)
7 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-W, NHL.TV

Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, one of four Panthers players who took part in an optional morning skate Thursday, will miss his second game because of an upper-body injury he sustained in practice Saturday.
Driedger, who made 43 saves in an 8-4 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, is 5-2-0 with a 2.40 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage in eight games (seven starts) this season.
The Panthers, who have won two straight, are 9-4-0 in their past 13 games.
Goalie Jack Campbell is expected to make his third start in four games for the Kings, 1-4-1 in their past six games and 3-7-2 in their past 12.

Players to watch

Kings forward Dustin Brown has 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in 20 games against Florida.
Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau became Florida's all-time points leader (420; 143 goals, 277 assists) with a goal and an assist on Tuesday, passing
Olli Jokinen
(419 points; 188 goals, 231 assists).

They said it

"Everybody was pulling in the same direction [in a 2-0 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday and a 4-3 shootout loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday], and it's really encouraging to see. But at the same time we're in it to win it, so we're going to have to find that little extra step to get the job done." -- Kings forward Kyle Clifford
"We're a resilient group. We've found ways to kind of bounce back and pick up wins when we haven't played our best nights before. Hopefully we can have a good game here and get back in the [Stanley Cup] playoff picture. It would be nice to be slotted in there when we go to the break." -- Panthers forward Brett Connolly

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo - Anze Kopitar - Tyler Toffoli
Kyle Clifford -- Jeff Carter -- Dustin Brown
Adrian Kempe -- Michael Amadio -- Austin Wagner
Nikolai Prokhorkin -- Jaret Anderson-Dolan -- Trevor Lewis
Alec Martinez -- Drew Doughty
Derek Forbort -- Sean Walker
Ben Hutton -- Matt Roy
Jack Campbell
Jonathan Quick
Scratched: Matt Luff, Kurtis MacDermid
Injured: Joakim Ryan (lower body), Blake Lizotte (lower body)

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgenii Dadonov
Brett Connolly -- Vincent Trocheck -- Noel Acciari
Frank Vatrano -- Dominic Toninato -- Mike Hoffman
Colton Sceviour -- Brian Boyle -- Mark Pysyk
Mike Matheson -- Aaron Ekblad
Keith Yandle -- Josh Brown
Riley Stillman -- Anton Stralman
Chris Driedger
Sam Montembeault
Scratched: Denis Malgin, Jayce Hawryluk
Injured: MacKenzie Weegar (upper body), Sergei Bobrovsky (upper body)

Status report

Montembeault was recalled on an emergency basis from Springfield of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. … Weegar, a defenseman, practiced Wednesday and skated Thursday but will not play.

Stat pack

Doughty, who played his 900th NHL game Tuesday, is second in the League in average time on ice with 26:04. … Hoffman has eight points (five goals, three assists) in a six-game point streak, including at least one goal in four straight games.