The Los Angeles Kings will look to make it back-to-back wins when they continue a five-game road trip in Dallas against the Stars on Thursday night.
Los Angeles snapped a four-game winless skid when it opened the trip with a 2-1 overtime victory against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
Adrian Kempe, who paces the Kings with nine points through seven games, scored the overtime winner. Alex Laferriere also scored for the Kings, which ended an 0-2-2 slump and improved to 2-1-1 on the road.
“It’s hard to win games on the road in this league, especially against teams like this,” Laferriere said. “I think it shows a lot of character for our group to be able to pull that one out. It’s just the beginning of the road trip that we want to end with five wins.”
Tuesday also marked the Kings’ debut for veteran forward Corey Perry, who signed a one-year deal with Los Angeles as a free agent in the offseason. The 40-year-old, who injured his knee before training camp, had a shot on goal in 14:41 of ice time in the win.
“I thought he added a lot,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “I thought he was dangerous, as dangerous as anybody up front. The intangible stuff, it’s just good to have him around, he’s a winner, and so that rubs off. I didn’t think I would play him (that much). I think he played close to 15 minutes tonight.
“To me, it was a pretty amazing performance for the first time.”
Darcy Kuemper, Thursday’s expected starter for Los Angeles, is 1-2-1 with a 2.74 goals-against average and an .883 save percentage in four games.
The Kings took two of three meetings with the Stars last season. Thursday is the first of three games between the clubs.
Dallas continues a three-game homestand looking to snap a three-game losing streak.
The Stars enter Thursday’s game following a 5-1 home loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.
Tyler Seguin scored the lone goal as the Stars fell behind 2-0 after 20 minutes and surrendered three unanswered third-period goals in the loss.
“We don’t lose three in a row often here in the last few years. It’s frustrating for sure,” Seguin said. “We had seven (turnovers) in the first period, odd-man rushes. That’s what we’re trying to get out of our game this year, and that’s what we gave them.
“That’s kind of the hockey game tonight. You’d like to say it’s an easy fix. We’re in the middle of figuring out what’s playing simple, what’s playing with swagger, what’s playing with new systems and we’re just kind of caught in it all right now.”
Jake Oettinger, expected to start Thursday for Dallas, made 24 saves in the loss to the Blue Jackets. Oettinger is 3-2-0 with a 3.18 GAA and an .896 save percentage in five games this season.
Wyatt Johnston has a team-leading four goals in six games this season, while Mikko Rantanen paces the Stars with seven points.
