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A victory is very much the order of the day for the Sens, who will come up against the Kings tonight after suffering miserably on the road, losing the first two games of their five game road trip on the West Coast and utterly failing to perform in a manner fitting of a victory. The San Jose Sharks were the most recent team to defeat Ottawa, beating them 5-2, with Dany Heatley haunting his old club with an attacking performance which was at odds with the lack of class shown up front by his former team in their last few games.

Heatley set up two goals for the Sharks in his first game against the Senators following a controversial summer trade and he certainly did all his talking on the ice where it counts. Heatley's absence has been the focal point for the majority of explanations surrounding the Sens' poor form up front and it certainly seems like the Ottawa attack has failed to adjust successfully to his departure.

Heatley and his team mates made Brian Elliott, who signed a two-year deal with the Sens in the summer, look very average indeed, and that's being generous. A clearly nervous and on edge Elliott should have done better with a couple of the goals he let in (although, in all fairness, he did make some awesome saves to prevent the Sharks from increasing their margin of victory) but Ottawa don't exactly have the bonus of numerous other options, with Pascal Leclaire out with a broken cheekbone.

Elliott was not the only player singled out for criticism, though, with Alexei Kovalev (who has not scored in 11 games) and Jason Spezza also coming under fire in certain quarters. Regardless, Elliott needs to pick up his game tonight, and not be afraid to rush out from goal and get in the faces of the Kings' players.

The Kings seem to have bounced back nicely after a run of lethargic performances and disappointing form. They have secured three wins in four games, including a victory in Anaheim earlier in the week, which was the icing on the cake of a shootout win over Chicago several nights previous.

On current form, they certainly won't be daunted by the arrival of a team low on confidence, particularly given the stats between the Sens and LA. The Kings are 7-1-1 in their last nine meetings with Ottawa and it seems likely that there won't be too many better opportunities for them to earn their first three-game win streak since mid-October.

For a team with a poor recent attack, the Senators will not be made to feel any happier by the realization that they'll need to break a goalless streak against the Kings tonight if they want to get anything out the game. Forward Milan Michalek will need to be on top form later again for the Senators. He managed to push his season goal tally to 15 against the Sharks and is one player certainly not daunted by playing away from home.

LA are available to back for the win at 2.24 (+124), with Ottawa the underdog at 2.94 (+194).