The tour of playing against former Penguins continues tonight as the Penguins face-off against the Los Angeles Kings in sunny California. It seems that the boys have been struggling through a grueling couple days of checking out the sites and sounds of their beachfront hotel, but its back to business tonight.

Though the Penguins possess the best record in the league right now and are collecting wins at a breakneck pace, the Kings aren't far off the pace. They have seemingly harnessed the potential that has been so obvious in the line-up over the past couple of years and it all seems to be coming together. It starts with Anze Kopitar, who has been one of my favorite players for years. He is currently leading the league in scoring and showing off the skills that made him the 11th overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

Kopitar seems to have benefited from the addition of Ryan Smyth and the two have combined to form a lethal combination for the Kings. It is a rare game in which one or both of them is not on the score sheet. Kopitar is on pace for career highs in just about every catagory and has the Kings sitting at 20 points, good for second in the Pacific Division and just four points behind the league leading Penguins.

It is great to see this performance from the Kings, as they have been poised for this kind of season for a long while. General manager Dean Lombardi has been accumulating great young talent over the past five seasons and he was finally in a position to add a couple of veterans into the mix. I already mentioned Ryan Smyth, but an even bigger acquisition might have been former Penguin Rob Scuderi.

Scuderi has been an excellent addition to an up and coming defensive core that is on its way to being one of the best in the league. Adding a shot blocking, veteran presence like Scuderi has been great for the development of Drew Doughty, and Jack Johnson. Scuderi was amongst the leaders in the Penguins locker room and it is clear that is what he has become in LA.

The Kings are poised to make their first trip to the playoffs since the 01-02 season and tonight will be a great barometer for their progress. They might not be facing a Penguins team that is at full strength, but this will still be a big test for the young Kings.

The Penguins line-up is expected to be very similar, if not the same, as the one that faced the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. The main change being that the Penguins appear to be reuniting the Staal, Cooke, Kenedy line for this evening's affair. Sam Kasan of the Penguins official site reported that they were skating together this morning.

Word is circulating that Evgeni Malkin could be back to practice at some point next week. He did return to the ice yesterday, albeit in warm ups and athletic shoes. He was passing pucks to his teammates during their warm up prior to practice, though he stayed along the boards.

Another Penguin made his second return to practice, Max Talbot. Talbot had been practicing with the team a couple of weeks ago, but was told to stay off of the ice for another two weeks. He was thrilled to be back on the ice with the boys, but was wearing a red non-contact jersey. Talbot feels that he is still a little ways away from returning, however anytime you get a guy back on the ice it can be considered a good thing.

Marc Andre Fleury is expected to be in net for the Penguins, while Jonathan Quick will go for the Kings.

I will be on XM Home Ice 204 with Boomer Gordon talking Pens/Kings as well as breaking down the Penguins injury situation...be sure to tune in!

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