Kings’ Darryl Sutter to put pipeline politics on hold with Obama

Now that Kings Coach Darryl Sutter has gotten to know the man, spending some quality time with President Obama — well, at least a few minutes in 2013 — is he planning on talking about a certain pipeline project?

Shortly before the Kings visited the White House in April 2013 to honor their 2012 Stanley Cup victory, Sutter — a pipeline supporter — said he wanted to get a few words with Obama about the Keystone XL pipeline. He ultimately decided not to push for it in the meeting, probably realizing it wasn’t the right venue.

The Senate, voting 62-36, passed the bill Thursday to expedite construction of the project. President Obama has said he will veto the bill. The proposed project starts in Canada — specifically, in Hardisty, Alberta. Hardisty is about 43 miles from Sutter’s home in Viking.

But Sutter said he won’t bring it up when the Kings visit the White House on Monday. President Obama will honor the Stanley Cup champion Kings as well as the 2014 MLS Champion Galaxy.

“He’s got enough going on, I think, there,” Sutter said.

The White House trip will highlight the Kings’ five-game trip, which starts Saturday in Boston. The likes of defensemen Robyn Regehr, forward Tyler Toffoli and goalie Martin Jones — to name a few players — weren’t with the Kings on the previous visit to the White House.

“It’ll be good for the new guys,” Sutter said.

Road woes

A continuing theme has been the Kings’ struggles on the road. They are 5-9-6 away from Staples Center and the final stretch of the season is especially weighted toward the road. Their last road win was on Jan. 1 at Vancouver, but they’ve only had one road game since.

KINGS AT BOSTON

When: 4 p.m. PST, Saturday.

Where: TD Garden.

On the air: TV: FS West; Radio: 790.

Etc.: The Bruins were surging before the All-Star break and came out strong in their first game after it, beating the Islanders, 6-2, on Thursday. Boston is 7-1-1 in its last nine games.

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

Twitter: @reallisa