Arizona Coyotes look to keep the Los Angeles Kings out of the playoffs

Fresh off a 6-3 win against the Washington Capitals, the Arizona Coyotes are back on the road for the final road trip of the season, starting with a trip to the Staples Center the Los Angeles Kings.

View from Los Angeles

For more on the Los Angeles Kings, check out Jewels From the Crown

The Los Angeles Kings have definitely struggled this season, especially after a big shakeup during the offseason.  After a first round loss to the San Jose Sharks they replaced longtime captain Dustin Brown with Anze Kopitar.  Kopitar would respond to being named captain with the worst full season stats of his career, and though there is more to be a captain then scoring the Kings had come to expect more offense from the former Selke winner.  You have to imagine the Kings brass made the switch to realign the Kings and put them back on a path of winning another Cup, but things haven't worked out that way this season.

Although pretty unlikely, the Kings still have a small chance of making the playoffs.  They are currently 10 points behind the Nashville Predators with five games to play, meaning the Kings need to win their remaining five games and the Preds need to lose their remaining games in order for the Kings to reach the playoffs.  If the Kings don't miss the playoffs again this year it will be their second time since winning the Cup and may lead to more shakeups moving forward.

View from Arizona

The Coyotes were limping to the end of the season with a few tough losses before a 6-3 win against the league leading Washington Capitals.  That game broke a four-game losing streak, and a four-game streak of only scoring one goal a game.

The Yotes offense has been hit or miss this season, this month alone the Coyotes have scored two or fewer goals in ten of sixteen games.  The Yotes managed to win two of those ten games, a 1-0 shutout against the Colorado Avalanche and a shootout win against the Los Angeles Kings.  The cliche remains true, its tough to win when you can't score, and the Coyotes have had trouble this season consistently scoring.

Three Questions

1. Can the Yotes eliminate the Kings? With both the Kings and the Predators playing tonight there is a chance that the Kings will be eliminated before the end of the game, but there is a chance that the Coyotes get to be the team that officially eliminates the Kings.

2. Will the offense be on or off today? The Coyotes' six goals against the Capitals was a welcome change, but the Yotes offense has been off more than it has been on this season. 

3. Where is Max Domi? Domi has been relatively quiet as of late, and has registered only three assists in the past nine games.  The last game he scored in he scored two goals against the Kings, both times tying the game after Tyler Toffoli scored. 

Players to Watch

Los Angeles - Jarome Iginla. Iginla has three goals and an assist in his past three games and had a Gordie Howe Hat Trick against the Calgary Flames.

Arizona - Christian Dvorak. After a bit of a slow start adjusting to the NHL Christian Dvorak has been playing some very solid hockey lately.  He had two goals against the Washington Capitals for his third multigoal game of the season.

Injury Report

Los Angeles - The Kings are only missing Matt Greene, who is out indefinitely with back and groin injuries.

Arizona - Jamie McGinn is questionable for tonight's game tending to a personal matter.  Kevin Connauton and Brad Richardson are both out with an upper body injury and leg injury respectively.

Puck Drop

Tonight will be the second to last road game the Coyotes will have this season and will air at 7:30 Arizona time on Fox Sports Arizona Plus and ESPN Phoenix 620 AM.