Kings face Hurricanes before hosting NHL All-Star Game (Jan 26, 2017)

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The theme regarding the upcoming NHL All-Star break might be more extreme for Thursday night's game at PNC Arena, where the Los Angeles Kings meet the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Kings are the hosts for the showcase event on the other coast, but the team has business to take care of before the organization can turn its full attention to the all-star festivities. It's the final game before the NHL All-Star Weekend.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes are intent on making the most of their last chance before the layoff, hoping to reacquire some of the good vibes that developed earlier this month.

"We have to get ready," Carolina coach Bill Peters said. "It's huge. We want to go into the All-Star break with a good taste."

The Hurricanes are on a four-game losing streak. They've been outscored by a combined 20-5 during that stretch, so after moving to within the border of the teams in the Eastern Conference playoff mix they've taken a detour.

"We lost our identity a little bit," Peters said. "But we know who we are and how we have to play and we'll get it back."

Some lineup shifts haven't generated hoped-for results in the last week for Carolina, which has dropped to 5-6-0 this month with two games remaining.

"All the guys here are capable of coming in and helping us," Peters said.

Peters said with players scheduling varying plans for the weekend, it's important to maintain focus and then enjoy the break after Thursday's game.

"When you come back, be ready to go," Peters said.

The Kings, who snapped a four-game losing streak on Tuesday night at New Jersey, have been encouraged by three victories in the past two weeks, but they know that pace won't be enough.

"We're starting to get some points and let's hope we can keep it going the rest of the season," Los Angeles center Jordan Nelson said.

The latest victory put coach Darryl Sutter at 618 victories, so he's 12th on the NHL's career list.

The Kings have played their past two games without Nic Dowd (out with a lower-body injury) and defensemen Matt Greene (back). While it's unclear if they'll play Thursday, it's possible with the break coming that they could be given the night off so they'll have an extended layoff in order to recover.

Sutter has expressed concerns about the Kings' goaltending, so a solid outing against the Devils from Peter Budaj might be something to build on.

'He has been struggling," Sutter said. "So it was good to see him bounce back."

The Kings and Hurricanes are tied for eighth in the NHL with 30.5 shots per game.

The Hurricanes rank first in the league with 465 takeaways, with defenseman Jaccob Slavin tops in the league with 40.

For Los Angeles, this is the fourth game as part of five consecutive road games, though the final outing of that stretch comes after the All-Star break.

The Hurricanes won 3-1 in last month's meeting in Los Angeles. At home in the last four meetings with the Kings, the Hurricanes are 3-0-1.