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The Colorado Avalanche will try to move ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for the first wild-card spot from the Western Conference when they play Monday night at Staples Center.

The Avalanche (42-28-9) missed a chance to pull even in points with the Kings (43-28-8) when they let a 3-1 lead slip away in the third period Sunday night at the Anaheim Ducks and lost 4-3 in overtime.

Colorado enters Monday one point behind the Kings and three points behind the Minnesota Wild for third in the Central Division with three games remaining.

“The only time the standings matter is Saturday Youth Jaire Alexander Jersey ,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “It’s disappointing we didn’t get two (points) because we played OK for a lot of that game.”

Kings forward Alex Iafallo, who had been playing wing on the top line with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown, was a late scratch Friday night against the Ducks because of an upper-body injury, and top-four defenseman Jake Muzzin has missed the past two games with an upper-body injury.

Iafallo did not practice on Sunday and Muzzin came on the ice at the end of practice.

The Kings matched their biggest margin of victory against the Avalanche on March 22, cruising to a 7-1 victory in Colorado.

Los Angeles coach John Stevens told Fox Sports West after practice Sunday that the loss should be fresh in the minds of the Avalanche.

“I’m sure they’ll be reminded of it and, if anything, it’ll be a little bit of a motivator for them,” Stevens said. “With the schedule, the way it is, you’re going to get games where you’re caught a little off-guard, things don’t go quite your way. … They know that they’re going to have to play better than they did in that game.”

The Kings are 20 for 20 on the penalty kill over the past eight games to raise their league-leading rate to 85.1. Stevens said that’s a big reason Los Angeles is also No. 1 in the league in goals-against average (2.44).

“The big key for us is goals-against Kerryon Johnson Color Rush Jersey , keeping it down,” Stevens told Fox Sports West. “It’s funny how that works with our penalty kill. When our penalty kill slipped, our goals-against climbed. I know it’s obvious it’s directly related, but it’s a reflection of our commitment without the puck.”

Colorado went 3 for 3 on the power play in a 5-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday and 1 for 4 against the Ducks.

Bednar said he plans to come back with Jonathan Bernier as the starting goalie.

Bernier took over for Semyon Varlamov, who sustained a season-ending lower-body injury on Friday and made 38 saves against Anaheim.

Bednar has also been pleased with the line of Tyson Jost, J.T. Compher and Alexander Kerfoot, who combined for all three goals against the Ducks and another in the win against the Blackhawks.

“That line has stepped up two games in a row,” he said.

Operating in the middle of the Baltimore Ravens defensive line, Brandon Williams is expected to bang helmets with one or two 300-pound brutes before pushing them aside so one of his teammates can make the tackle.

Although the task is instrumental to the success of Baltimore's gritty defense, it often goes unnoticed by the casual fan and does not produce impressive statistical numbers.

"I'm totally fine with what I do," Williams said after practice Monday. "I know it's a dirty job Cheap Harold Landry Jersey , but somebody's got to do it and I'm happy to raise my hand and volunteer. As long as my guys have my back and are making plays around me, that's all I care about."

Told it's not exactly a sexy job, the 6-foot-1, 336-pound Williams smiled and said, "Oh, it's sexy. As long as I'm there, it's sexy."

Drafted in the third round of the 2013 draft out of Missouri Southern State, Williams has been Baltimore's starting nose tackle for the past five years. He follows a long line of players who have effectively filled an unglamorous, pivotal position.

"A lot of interior linemen who have come through here and had the honor of being considered a Raven for life, the No. 1 thing they had was toughness," Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs said.

"Can you be mentally tough? Can you physically dominate the man across from you? I think Brandon Williams embodies that. He can be considered in the rare group of the Tony Siragusas Leighton Vander Esch Jersey Elite , the Kelly Greggs, the Haloti Ngatas."

The Ravens showed their appreciation to Williams in 2017 when they provided him with a five-year contract rather than allow him to test free agency.

Last year, he started the first two games, both of them victories in which Baltimore allowed a total of 10 points and forced 10 turnovers.

Williams missed the next four games with a foot injury, and the Ravens won only one of them.

"When we lost him, we sunk a little bit," defensive line coach Joe Cullen said. "Brandon is the epitome of what you want an inside tackle to be. He's really quick for a big guy, but so strong he can get big knock-back at the point of attack."

Williams has 188 career tackles, 4陆 sacks and one touchdown 鈥?on a fumble recovery he took in from the 1.

These facts and figures do nothing to convey his importance to the Ravens.

"I'm a big Brandon Williams fan," coach John Harbaugh said. "Ask the offensive line coaches and the offensive linemen around the league how they feel about blocking him. He's a force in there. He takes up two blockers, sometimes more. He's very stout.

"You want great players everywhere Authentic Kenny Young Jersey , but in the middle of your defense it's important to have an anchor that can keep people from running inside and can create better angles for your defense. It's nice to have a big, physical run stopper. The Ravens have always had that. It's really been a staple here historically."

Williams certainly doesn't mind being Baltimore's next man in the middle, but he's not interested in merely carrying on a tradition that began long ago.

"I want to play how I play," Williams said. "I'm not Haloti, even though he was a great player and I learned a lot from him. I want to do my own thing, just be whatever I can be for the team."

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