The Avalanche (26-22-3, 55 points) could use a nice bounce-back game Wednesday night in Los Angeles with Nashville one point behind them for the second wild card playoff berth in the Western Conference.
The Predators (23-18-8, 54 points), who play in Calgary on Wednesday, have played two fewer games than the Avalanche, who have a 25-21 lead in regulation and overtime wins, the tiebreaker at the end of the season.
Minnesota (23-17-9, 55 points), which doesn't play Wednesday, also has played two fewer games than the Avalanche and holds the first wild card position. The Wild have 23 regulation and overtime wins.
Here are the GAME NOTES.
Calvin Pickard will start in goal again as the civil lawsuit filed against Semyon Varlamov by his former girlfriend continues in Denver.
Pickard, who missed the morning skate in San Jose on Tuesday because of illness, allowed four goals on 20 shots in two periods in the Avalanche's 6-1 loss to the Sharks. Roman Will made his NHL debut in the third period and stopped two of three shots.
The Avalanche gave up a total of six goals in their previous five games. The loss ended their winning streak at four games and dropped their road record to 14-12-0.
Erik Johnson, who also missed the morning skate because of illness, played a season-low 16:04 (not counting the Jan. 4 game against the Kings when he sustained a lower-body injury), assisted on Nathan MacKinnon's third-period goal, had one shot on goal and was minus-2.
Mikhail Grigorenko, also ill Tuesday morning, was scratched, but coach Patrick Roy said he could have played.
Jack Skille, who hurt his back Saturday against Dallas, played 9:53 and had one shot on goal.
Blake Comeau has five assists and no goals in 13 games ... Tyson Barrie has two assists and no goals in six games ... Matt Duchene has two assists and no goals in six games ... Gabriel Landeskog has one goal and two assists in nine games.
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Jonathan Quick will start in goal for the Kings (30-15-3), who are 15-8-1 at the Staples Center. He has a 13-4-1 career record against the Avalanche with two shutouts, a 2.25 goals-against average and .912 save percentage.
The Avalanche and Kings split the first two games this season. This will be the final regular-season meeting.