Tonight at 10:30 p.m. ET, the Montreal Canadiens (34-21-7, 75 points) and Los Angeles Kings (34-22-6, 74 points) hit the ice at Staples Center for the second and final meeting against each other this season. The game can be live streamed here. Montreal fans can hear all of the action on TSN 690 while Los Angeles fans can do the same on KTLK 1150.
Montreal embarks on a four-game road trip starting tonight against L.A. and trails the Boston Bruins by six points for the Atlantic Division lead while Los Angeles wraps up their two-game homestand before going on a three-game road trip. The first time these two teams met, the Kings defeated the Canadiens 6-0 on Dec. 10 in Montreal.
Max Pacioretty led the Canadiens to a 4-3 overtime victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday by notching his second tally of the game in the extra frame. With Carey Price (lower-body) sidelined since sustaining an injury in the Olympics, Peter Budaj has stepped up for Montreal.
"He's been unbelievable," Pacioretty said of Budaj, according to NHL.com. "He's kept us in all three games that he's played [since the break]. He's come up with some huge saves in some key moments, and I think that's probably the most important thing a goalie can do, is come up with big saves at the right time, and it seems like he's got that right now.
Pacioretty (29 goals, 12 assists) and P.K. Subban (nine tallies, 32 helpers) pace the Canadiens with 41 points while Andrei Markov has found the back of the net five times while adding 31 assists for 36 points. Markov is on a five-game point streak.
Budaj will likely start again for Montreal and is 8-4-2 with a 2.21 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. He'll likely be opposed by Jonathan Quick, who is 18-13-2 with a 2.08 GAA and a .915 save percentage.
The Kings are 3-0-0 since the Olympic break, and Anze Kopitar thinks they'll do even better come the postseason.
"I think we are a team that is built better for playoffs than we are for the regular season," Kopitar told LA Kings Insider. "It seems like even the last couple years, we've had some struggles during the regular season, but when it's time to make it all happen, we were right there and we were up to the challenge."
Kopitar leads Los Angeles with 51 points off of 19 goals and 32 assists while Jeff Carter has 21 markers and 18 helpers for 39 points and Mike Richards has lit the lamp eight times while adding 30 assists for 38 points.
The Kings and Canadiens clash when the lights come up tonight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
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