The Los Angeles Kings enter Saturday night riding a league-high seven game point streak and look to make it eight with two huge points against the New Jersey Devils. 

During the impressive streak, the Kings have a record of 4-0-3 which has them currently sitting at 2nd place in the Pacific Division with 14 points, trailing only the Vegas Golden Knights who have 15. Extending their streak to eight games will be no easy task as they face not just one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, but one of the top teams in the entire NHL in the New Jersey Devils.

Through their first 11 games, the Devils have a record of 8-3-0. Their eight victories has them at second place in the Metropolitan Division, trailing just the Pittsburgh Penguins who have 18 in one extra game. After starting the season off with a loss in Carolina, the Devils rattled off eight straight victories before losing their last two games. Expect a hungry Devils team on Saturday night.

Devils Projected Lineup

The Devils are dealing with a plethora of injuries but they are still able to muster up a well balanced lineup. Jacob Markstrom is expected to make his first start since signing a two-year, $6 million AAV extension on Friday. 

* - Indicates Teams Leading Scorer

Forwards

1st Line: S. Noesen - J. Hughes* - J. Bratt

2nd Line: O. Palat - N. Hischier - A. Gritsyuk

3rd Line: T. Meier - J. Lammmikko - D. Mercer

4th Line: P. Cotter - L. Glendening - B. Halonen

Defense

1st Pair: J. Sigenthaler - D. Hamilton

2nd Pair: B. Dillon - L. Hughes

3rd Pair: D. Cholowski - S. Nemec

Goaltender: J. Markstrom (Expected) - Jake Allen (Backup)

Kings Projected Lineup

The Kings will roll out a full lineup aside from Warren Foegele who was just recently added to injured reserve with an upper body injury. Trevor Moore makes his return to the lineup after being absent against the Red Wings on Thursday due to personal reasons. Darcy Kuemper is expected to make a third straight start for the second time this season. 

* - Indicates Teams Leading Scorer

Forwards

1st Line: A. Kuzmenko - A. Kopitar - A. Kempe*

2nd Line: K. Fiala - Q. Byfield - T. Moore

3rd Line: A. Laferierre - P. Danault - J. Armia

4th Line: J. Malott - A. Turcotte - C. Perry

Defense

1st Pair: B. Dumoulin - D. Doughty

2nd Pair: J. Edmundson - B. Clarke

3rd Pair:  M. Anderson - C. Ceci

Goaltender: D. Kuemper (Expected) - Anton Forsberg (Backup)

Keys to Success

1: Stay Disciplined

Penalties happen. Every team takes them, but good teams know how to limit them. The Kings will not beat the Devils if they give them numerous opportunities to do damage with the man advantage. One of the main reasons the Devils went on an eight game heater is their incredible power play led by Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Dougie Hamilton. At 32.3%, New Jersey currently has the NHL's top power play while the Kings penalty kill unit sits at 22nd with a 74% success rate.

2: Establish A Strong Forecheck and Be Physical

Injuries are undoubtedly the worst aspect of sports but they happen to everybody. The Devils are currently working around multiple key players being absent from the lineup. The Kings must take advantage of the fact that the Devils are shorthanded and establish a strong and physical play style. Do not make things easy on New Jersey's wide variety of skill players. Whenever defenders such as Luke Hughes or Jonas Siegenthaler go to pick up a loose puck in their end, a Kings forechecker must be willing to lay a hit on them, making them become more aware through the course of the game. This could lead to them making mistakes as they constantly expect to be on the receiving end of contact. 

3: Shots on Goal with Net Front Presence

We saw how effective this can be last game as former 50-goal scorer Corey Perry potted two from almost the exact same spot on the ice. He was in the slot or right in front of the net ready to deflect the a shot or win a battle for a rebound. Markstrom is an excellent goaltender so LA must make his job difficult in order to beat him. He will eat up every shot with no traffic or net front presence. 

History and Facts

• The Kings and Devils have done battle 115 times in the regular season.
• In those games LA is 62-37-18 while NJ is 42-58-15
• The Kings have won six of the last 10 meetings between these two

• A win over the Devils Saturday night would be the Kings first victory over an Eastern Conference foe this season. Currently 0-0-2 against the East.

• Rematch of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final where the Kings beat the Devils 4-2 to capture their first Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history.

Puck drop is set for 6:00 PM PT/ 9:00 PM ET.

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