Jets at Kings preview

JETS (42-25-4) at KINGS (25-38-8)
10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, TSN3, NHL.TV

The Jets, who have won two straight after defeating the Calgary Flames 2-1 on Saturday, have a one-point lead on the Nashville Predators.
The Kings, who are 2-11-4 in their past 17 games, will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss of any kind.

Players to watch

Jets forward Blake Wheeler has four points (one goal, three assists) during a three-game point streak and 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in his past 12 games. Wheeler needs two assists to tie Marc Savard (69) for most assists in a season in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history.
Kings forward Dustin Brown has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past three games.

They said it

"We're at that time of year where we're trying to get ready for the playoffs and trying to get our best game going, so it doesn't really matter who we're playing. We're going to be trying to work on our game and trying to play our best." -- Jets forward Bryan Little
"It's been a tough year but they are trying to bring some positivity. When you have good leaders on a team guys will follow." -- Kings forward Austin Wagner on the leadership of Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown

Jets projected lineup

Patrik Laine -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Kyle Connor -- Kevin Hayes -- Nikolaj Ehlers
Brandon Tanev -- Adam Lowry -- Bryan Little
Mathieu Perreault -- Andrew Copp -- Matt Hendricks
Nathan Beaulieu -- Jacob Trouba
Ben Chiarot -- Sami Niku
Dmitry Kulikov -- Tyler Myers
Laurent Brossoit
Connor Hellebuyck
Scratched: Par Lindholm, Jack Roslovic, Bogdan Kiselevich
Injured: Joe Morrow (lower body), Dustin Byfuglien (lower body), Josh Morrissey (upper body)

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Carl Grundstrom -- Adrian Kempe -- Tyler Toffoli
Brendan Leipsic -- Jeff Carter -- Ilya Kovalchuk
Kyle Clifford -- Trevor Lewis -- Austin Wagner
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Alec Martinez -- Matt Roy
Dion Phaneuf -- Paul LaDue
Jack Campbell
Jonathan Quick
Scratched: Kurtis MacDermid, Sean Walker, Jonny Brodzinski
Injured: None

Status report

Hendricks will be in the lineup for the first time since being acquired from the Minnesota Wild in a trade Feb. 25 and will replace Roslovic on the fourth line. Hendricks had 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 60 games for the Jets last season and two assists in 22 games with the Wild this season. Jets coach Paul Maurice said Roslovic is healthy and it was a coach's decision to scratch him. … Campbell is expected to start after Quick stayed on the ice for extra work following an optional morning skate.

Stat pack

Laine has six assists in his past seven games. … Perreault has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past five games. … Doughty has seven assists in his past eight games.