The Los Angeles Kings are coming off an emotional victory last Saturday after they beat the rival Edmonton Oilers 4-0 in Jim Hiller's first game as head coach.
They'll look to keep the wins coming and get back on track on Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres.
There have been positive signs surrounding Viktor Arvidsson recently, with the forwards return seeming imminent after he shed his red non-contact jersey last week.
He was also in a gray, top six jersey at practice on Monday.
Despite these positive signs, it appears Arvidsson is not ready for game action quite yet.
Last time out against Buffalo, the Kings blew a two-goal lead in what felt like a turning point in the decision to fire Todd McLellan.
Now, under a new coach and off the back of a big win, the Kings will like their chances in Buffalo.
They need to recreate the energy they had against the Oilers though. Keep blocking shots at a high rate and playing with speed.
They also could use another strong performance from Pierre-Luc Dubois, who finally looked close to an $8.5 million center.
Still, there were warning signs against the Oilers, and had it not been for a strong David Rittich performance and a few posts, that game could have gone differently.
That game was a nice building block for the Kings but they need to back it up with a strong performance Tuesday.
On the other side, the Sabres will be without their young star Owen Power, who left practice earlier in the week and is week-to-week.
Rittich once again has the net, with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen opposite him.
Projected Los Angeles Kings Lines:
Forwards:
Quinton Byfield - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore - Phil Danault - Kevin Fiala
Alex Laferriere - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Carl Grundstrom - Alex Turcotte - Trevor Lewis
Defense:
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov - Matt Roy
Andreas Englund - Jordan Spence
Goalies:
David Rittich
Cam Talbot
Projected Buffalo Sabres Lines:
Forwards:
Jeff Skinner – Tage Thompson – Kyle Okposo
Zach Benson – Dylan Cozens – JJ Peterka
Jordan Greenway – Casey Mittelstadt – Alex Tuch
Zemgus Girgensons – Peyton Krebs – Victor Olofsson
Defense:
Rasmus Dahlin – Henri Jokiharju
Ryan Johnson – Connor Clifton
Jacob Bryson – Erik Johnson
Goalies:
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Devon Levi