Minnesota Wild (2-1-0) at Los Angeles Kings (3-1-1), 3 p.m. (ET)
(SportsNetwork.com) - The Los Angeles Kings will try to stay perfect on a six- game homestand when they welcome the Minnesota Wild for Sunday's matinee at Staples Center.
Despite dropping their first two games of 2014-15, the defending Stanley Cup champions are 3-1-1 on the season thanks to a 3-0 record on their current stay in Los Angeles. The Kings had a 23-14-4 record at home last season and went 8-4 in L.A. during the playoffs en route to earning the franchise's second Cup in three years.
The Kings have outscored the opposition by an 11-2 margin during the homestand, but only needed one shootout goal to defeat the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. Jonathan Quick made 43 saves during regulation and overtime and three more in the shootout to anchor the 1-0 victory, while Jeff Carter provided the only goal of the decisive phase.
Carter was the Kings' first skater in the shootout, beating Brian Elliott with a wrist shot over the netminder's pad and under his blocker. Quick stopped T.J. Oshie, Alex Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko to seal the Kings' fifth straight home win against the Blues.
Quick notched his 32nd career shutout, tying Rogie Vachon for first all-time in Kings history.
"It's more about wins than shutouts when we go out there," Quick said.
On the injury front, Los Angeles forward Marian Gaborik and defenseman Jake Muzzin are currently sidelined with upper-body ailments. Gaborik has missed the last two games while Muzzin, who signed a five-year extension earlier this week, has yet to play this season. Both players are out for Sunday's tilt, as is defenseman Trevor Lewis, who is on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.
The Kings welcome a Minnesota team which has won two straight, three of four and five of the last seven meetings in this series. Minnesota also has won in its last two trips to L.A. and has claimed three of four in the City of Angels.
The Wild are aiming to bounce back from their first loss of the season. Minnesota opened 2014-15 with a 2-0 mark thanks to a pair of shutout wins against Colorado, but then dropped a 2-1 decision Friday in Anaheim.
Minnesota led the Ducks 1-0 after 40 minutes, but Andrew Cogliano scored a short-handed goal to even things early in the third period and Corey Perry tallied the game-winner with 8:25 to play.
Jason Zucker netted Minnesota's lone marker and Darcy Kuemper, who posted both of the shutouts against the Avalanche to start the season, had his shutout streak end at 163 minutes, 46 seconds.
"It's hard to be too upset right now. Obviously, you want to win the game. Our guys put a lot into that game," Wild head coach Mike Yeo said. "There were empty nets and opportunities that were bouncing off of our sticks. We weren't quite sharp in those situations and that's when you need to make a play."
Kuemper allowed two goals on 26 shots in the loss and he expects to get a breather today in favor of Niklas Backstrom, who will be making his first start of the season.
Backstrom, who underwent season-ending surgery in February, last saw NHL action on Jan. 30 and hasn't started a game since Jan. 11. The 36-year-old Finnish netminder is 8-6-4 with a 2.41 goals against average in his career against L.A.
Quick is 8-4-3 with a 2.47 GAA and .895 save percentage in 15 career outings against the Wild.