Division Lead in Jeopardy

The Kings would like to not make too much of this moment, but it is hard to avoid the obvious.

“This is a big test for us,” Jeremy Roenick said. “And we’re going to pass.”

Tonight the Kings face the Ottawa Senators, who have the best record in the NHL. And the matchup comes when the Kings are hardly at their best.

They have lost three of their last four games, including consecutive defeats for the first time. They have only three goals in their last 45 power plays and gave up three power-play goals in a 3-2 loss to Chicago on Wednesday.

“We’re not at our best right now,” Luc Robitaille said. “But what we’ve got to do is stick together and get through it. Teams are getting ready for us now. We have to come out and work harder than them.”

But a loss tonight, combined with a Dallas win over Carolina, would knock the Kings out of first place in the Pacific Division for the first time since Oct. 15.

Ottawa is not the best team to try to get healthy against. The Senators lead the NHL in goals scored.

Their penalty killing is second in the league, and their power play third.

On top of that, the Senators’ Jason Speeza, Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley are the top-scoring line in the league with 119 points. Heatley had scored at least one point in 22 consecutive games, before Ottawa was shut out by Boston on Thursday.

*

TONIGHT

at Ottawa, 4:30 PST, FSN West

Site -- Corel Center.

Radio -- 710.

Records -- Kings 16-9-1, Senators 19-4-0.

Record vs. Senators (2003-04) -- 1-0-0.

Update -- For the Kings’ Sean Avery, this is his first game in an area with a significant French Canadian population since he was reprimanded by the NHL in September for his comments about French Canadian players.