The Los Angeles Kings hope a return to familiar territory will get them back to their winning ways.

After playing 10 of their past 12 games on the road, the Kings will open a six-game homestand against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night.

Los Angeles went 2-3-0 on the first five-game road trip last month, came home for two games, and then went 1-3-1 on the second five-game trek. They salvaged a win in its last stop against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

“We stopped this stretch (in Carolina) because we kept our recipe,” Kings forward Phillip Danault said. “We kept working hard, playing our game and it worked out.”

The Kings still cling to third place in the Pacific Division, just one point ahead of the Calgary Flames.

The Kings had an eight-point lead over the Flames heading into their matchup in Calgary on Jan. 11, but the Flames pulled out a 2-1 win and have continued to gain on Los Angeles.

“Right now, we just have to believe in ourselves, believe in the team,” Kings forward Kevin Fiala said.

The Kings likely will be without defenseman Mikey Anderson, who remains day to day after sustaining a finger injury last week.

“Whatever he’s got, it’s going to have to heal through treatments and relatively naturally, which is a positive,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said.

Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty has played three games since returning from a broken ankle sustained during the preseason. Doughty said he feels good enough to potentially replace the injured Alex Pietrangelo at the 4 Nations tournament later this month.

“I know I’m in the group of guys they’re looking at and I told them I want to be there,” Doughty said. “I’m hoping I’m going to keep improving. We’ve got a couple more games, hopefully to watch me and see that I deserve that spot.”

The Kings will be playing a road-weary Montreal team that played Tuesday night at the San Jose Sharks and won 4-3 to end a five-game losing streak.

Jakub Dobes is expected to start in goal after Sam Montembeault made 27 saves in the win against the Sharks.

Dobes won the first five starts of his career before dropping the past two, most recently surrendering three goals on 26 shots in a 4-0 loss to the visiting Minnesota Wild last Thursday.

The rookie went up against future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury in that game and had a brief conversation with the 40-year-old in the handshake line.

“We had a good little conversation, but I’m going to keep it for myself,” Dobes said. “He just said work hard. It was kind of hard to hear. I don’t want to say everything. I don’t want to create much buzz and anything. Some things that you keep to yourself and it was a good conversation.”

Dobes eventually said Fleury simply congratulated him on the start to his career.

“I didn’t even know what to say. I wasn’t expecting it. So I was just like: ‘Oh, thanks.’ ” Dobes said. “It shows you how much of a good human being and a good teammate he is that he takes his time to say something to a guy who started a month ago.”

–Field Level Media