PREVIEW: LA Kings chasing first win of road trip with stop in Columbus (3:30p, FOX Sports West)
3:30p: WATCH ON FOX SPORTS APP
The Los Angeles Kings are in Columbus to face the Blue Jackets on Thursday night.
The Blue Jackets (16-12-2) and Kings (11-19-2) both experienced tough losses on Tuesday night.
Los Angeles lost the second game of a back-to-back on the road, falling 4-3 in overtime to the Buffalo Sabres. The Kings have gone 0-2 on a four-game trip that ends Saturday night in Pittsburgh and 1-3-1 in their last five games overall.
Defensemen Drew Doughty and Dion Phaneuf left Tuesday's game with upper-body injuries and didn't return. Phaneuf flew back to Los Angeles for evaluation.
Doughty has played in 360 consecutive games, a franchise record, but Kings coach Willie Desjardins on Tuesday night listed Doughty as day-to-day. His absence would be felt.
"Not only is he a big-time leader, he's one of the best defensemen in the game, and he eats a lot of minutes," Kings goaltender Cal Petersen said of Doughty. " ... losing him, (he's) a huge part of our team."
Kings defenseman Alec Martinez didn't make the trip because of an upper-body injury and was placed on injured reserve Wednesday. Also sidelined are forwards Kyle Clifford, Jonny Brodzinski, Carl Hagelin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Trevor Lewis, and goaltender Jack Campbell.
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Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin was forced to carry a heavy load, finishing with 30 minutes of ice time and contributing a goal and an assist against the Sabres.
"Every time he goes out he plays hard and he gives us both offense and defense," Desjardins said. "A lot of times guys see him as an offensive defenseman, but he can do it all and he's a big guy and he loves to play, and he's got such a good attitude around the locker room as well."
