Kings' Peter Budaj: Defending cage Monday

Budaj will get the starting nod against the Lightning on Monday, Dennis Bernstein of the Professional Hockey Writers Association reports.

Analysis:

Budaj has captured wins in five of his previous six outings with a .902 save percentage. Given the offensive struggles of the Kings -- 2.53 goals per game -- the netminder has had to be stellar in order to keep racking up the wins. Considering Budaj wasn't even expected to begin the season as the backup, fantasy owners will be thrilled with his value after beating out Jeff Zatkoff for the No. 1 job when Jonathan Quick (groin) went down early in the season.