Golden Knights out to avoid tying record losing streak vs. Kings

The Vegas Golden Knights will try to avoid matching their longest winless streak in the team's three-year history when they visit the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights have lost their past four games (0-3-1). The only time Vegas dropped five in a row was an 0-3-2 stretch from March 23-30.

Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban have alternated as the starting goalie during the past seven games, and they'll likely split the next two games as the Golden Knights return home to face the Calgary Flames on Sunday afternoon.

Vegas also is looking for more offense out of its defense.

The Golden Knights came into the weekend ranked 30th in the league in points by their defensemen.

"Our D-men need to chip in," Vegas defenseman Nate Schmidt said. "We have to be better in certain areas defensively and we have to help out on offense. All of our lines have to. You can't just have one or two guys scoring. It just doesn't work that way."

The Kings are in position to win three in a row for the first time this season.

They're coming off a 3-2 overtime win against the visiting Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. Los Angeles tied the score with 1:48 left in regulation before winning 23 seconds into overtime.

The late comeback and ultimate overtime win was a welcome experience for Kings coach Todd McLellan, who's in his first year trying to turn around a club that had the fewest points in the Western Conference last season.

"It's good for our team to show a little resilience," he said. "We've been on the other end of it when we go down and we get scored on again right away. The last three or four games we've been improving in that area, so moving the needle in the right direction."

Despite the slow start to the season, McLellan has been satisfied with how the team has been practicing and preparing for games.

"I think they're starting to pick things up and apply them,' McLellan said. "We're cutting down the goals against. Penalty kill is improving. Power play has some work to do."

McLellan specifically mentioned the improvement of goalie Jonathan Quick, the two-time Stanley Cup winner who allowed at least four goals in six of eight starts in October but has limited the opposition to three goals or fewer in all four outings this month.

"We're starting to see the goalie we thought we had," McLellan said. "He's really playing well."

Offensively, the Kings continue to be led by veterans as well.

Anze Kopitar has a team-leading seven goals, followed by Jeff Carter with six. Drew Doughty and Dustin Brown are among those in a four-way tie for third with four goals each.

Kopitar, Carter, Doughty and Brown were also part of the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup championship teams.

"Overall, we're fixing things as we go, but we're still not there," McLellan said. "We've got a lot of work to do."

The Golden Knights practiced in Las Vegas on Friday before leaving for Los Angeles, and center Cody Eakin was a full participant after leaving a 5-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday with an undisclosed injury.

--Field Level Media