(SportsNetwork.com) – The surging Los Angeles Kings will attempt to match the
longest winning streak in club history on Thursday night and deal the Ottawa
Senators’ playoff chances a bit of a blow.
The Kings have followed up a span of 10 losses in 12 games with a season-high
eight straight victories. That has put the defending champions into a tie for
third place in the Pacific Division with the Calgary Flames, though Los
Angeles holds the current tiebreaker with two games in hand.
Netminder Jonathan Quick has allowed only 13 goals during the winning streak
and posted 20 saves in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings for his
fourth shutout of the season and 35th of his career.
Justin Williams scored the only goal of the game for Los Angeles, which won
nine straight from Jan. 21-Feb. 6, 2010.
“We took away time and space, we were good up-ice, and we were good through
the neutral zone,” Quick said.
Not only are the Kings in the midst of an excellent run, but they also boosted
their blue line on Wednesday by acquiring 28-year-old Andrej Sekera from the
Carolina Hurricanes for defensive prospect Roland McKeown and a conditional
first-round draft pick.
If the Kings make the playoffs this season, the ‘Canes will get a 2015 first-
round pick. If not, the selection will be in 2016.
It was a high price to play, but one surging Los Angeles felt it needed to
make as it finally filled the void created by Slava Voynov, who has been
suspended for the majority of the season due to his arrest on domestic
violence charges.
The puck-moving Sekera notched two goals and 17 assists in 57 games with
Carolina this season. He is slated to be an unrestricted free agent after the
season.
While not as impressive, the Senators also are in the middle of a solid run
that has improved their playoff chances. They have won three in a row and four
of their past five to get within seven points of the Boston Bruins for the
second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Goaltender Andrew Hammond has been the recent catalyst, winning each of his
first three NHL starts as he has been pressed into duty with Craig Anderson
and Robin Lehner both injured.
Hammond became the first player in team history to win each of his first three
starts in consecutive games after notching a 3-0 victory over the Anaheim
Ducks on Wednesday night.
Hammond made 25 saves to record his first NHL shutout.
“Obviously it’s special. It’s my first NHL shutout,” said Hammond. “Anaheim’s
one of the top teams in the league right now so to do it against them is
pretty cool.”
Erik Condra, Mika Zibanejad and Kyle Turris all scored for the Senators, who
won the opener of a five-game road trip.
Ottawa faces a big test tonight as it has not won in Los Angeles since Jan.
11, 2000. The Kings are 6-0-0 with a tie at home in this series since.
The Kings also have won four in a row and 10 of the past 12 meetings overall,
including a 5-3 victory in Ottawa on Dec. 11.
That loss for the Sens came in Dave Cameron’s head coaching debut. He had been
elevated from assistant coach following the firing of Paul McLean.
