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Canucks face Kings in battle of struggling teams

Oct 19, 2007 - 2:03 PM Los Angeles (2-6-0) at Vancouver (3-3-0) 10:00 pm EDT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks will try to get their seasons on track when they face off on Friday.

The Kings suffered another setback to the Calgary Flames on Thursday, dropping the first game of a two-game road trip, 4-3.

Los Angeles' top three goal scorers, Mike Cammalleri, Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar provided the offense in the loss.

Cammalleri now has seven goals in his first eight games while Kopitar has four and Brown has three. The trio has accounted for nearly all of the Kings offense, scoring 14 of the team's 18 goals this season.

Not only do the Kings struggle on offense, but their defense has been terrible as well. Los Angeles is allowing 4.29 goals per game, second-worst in the NHL. Additionally, the Kings penalty kill is ranked 26th in the league, allowing opponents to convert almost 24 percent of the time.

Matters get worse for the Kings away from Los Angeles, where they are winless in three road games this season after posting a league-worst 11-25-5 record on the road last season. A loss on Friday will give the Kings their first 0-4 start on the road since the 1969-70 season.

If the Kings are to overcome their road woes, however, Vancouver is a good place to start. The Canucks are just 1-3-0 at home this season, dropping their last game here to the San Jose Sharks, 4-2, on Monday.

The Canucks dominated last season's series with the Kings, winning three of four games, spitting the two games here.