As the 4-Nations Face-Off tournament and the resulting break loom in February, the Tampa Bay Lightning are seeking one key as January comes to a close: normalcy.

Team Sweden announced its leadership team for the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off next month. Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman was named captain, an honor he most recently held at the 2024 IIHF World Championship.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots, Brandon Hagel scored two goals and had an assist and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-0 on Thursday night. Anthony Cirelli scored his fourth short-handed goal of the season for the Kings.

Auston Matthews will serve as captain for the United States in the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off, and his team is the only one involved without a glaring injury question to answer.

BOTTOM LINE: The Los Angeles Kings look to end their four-game slide with a win against the Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina is 20-5-1 at home and 32-16-4 overall. The Hurricanes have gone 9-3-2 in games decided by one goal. Los Angeles has gone 11-14-5 in road games and 26-17-6 overall. The Kings are 21-0-2 when scoring at least three goals.

Hedman, a 16-season veteran in his first campaign as captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning, will lead Sweden, with Mattias Ekholm of the Edmonton Oilers, Erik Karlsson of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs serving as alternates.

The Tampa Bay Lightning face the Los Angels Kings at Amalie Arena at 7 tonight after two consecutive losses, while Los Angeles has not won the past three contests. Tampa Bay sits

“Nikita Kucherov joined his teammate Victor Hedman as the second player in @TBLightning history to tally 600 assists as the Lightning scored four goals in the second period,” posted the NHL ...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots, Brandon Hagel scored two goals and had an assist and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-0 on Thursday night. Anthony Cirelli scored his fourth short-handed goal of the season for the Kings. The shutout was Vasilevskiy's second this season and 37th of his career.

Victor Hedman was named captain of Team Sweden for the 4 Nations Face-Off on Thursday. The 34-year-old defenseman is in his first season as captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning. This is the first time Hedman will captain Sweden in international play. He was an assistant captain for Sweden at the 2024 IIHF World Championships, where they won bronze.

The Kings fail to score for the second straight game and lose for the eighth time in 10 games in a 3-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Washington Wizards 134-96, bouncing back into the win column. The Lakers now stand at 27-19 on the season and are ranked as the No. 5 team in the Western Conference standings.