Los Angeles Kings' Peter Harrold dives to block the slap shot of Ottawa Senators' Mike Fisher, in Los Angeles. Los Angeles Kings' Peter Harrold dives to block the slap shot of Ottawa Senators' Mike Fisher, in Los Angeles. (Jeff Lewis/Associated Press)

Sometimes a change of scenery is what a team needs to pull itself out of a losing streak.

For the Ottawa Senators, the Staples Centre in Los Angeles has not been that scene.

In their last nine games against the Los Angeles Kings, the Senators are 1-1-7. And they are 1-9-0 with a tie all-time on the road against the Kings, with the lone win coming Jan. 11, 2000.

The Senators (13-8-4) will look to change this pattern Thursday when the teams meet for the only time this season.

Ottawa has dropped the first two games of a five-game road trip after previously winning five games out of six.

The last two losses have seen the Senators waste two-goal performances from red-hot Milan Michalek, as they extended their road losing streak to five games (0-4-1).

Ex-Shark sharp

The left winger scored twice in a 5-2 defeat at San Jose on Monday after his second goal Saturday had forced overtime before Ottawa fell 4-3 in a shootout at Boston.

Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo were both playing their first game against the Sharks since being traded in the off-season for Dany Heatley, and got a warm reception from the crowd at HP Pavilion.

Los Angeles (16-10-2) was one of the league's biggest surprises early this season, starting 10-4-2 before cooling off with a 4-6-0 stretch that included two shootout wins.

The Kings, though, appear to be back on track with three wins in four games, including Tuesday's 4-3 victory in Anaheim. Brad Richardson scored his first goal of the season with 2:20 remaining in regulation to help Los Angeles build off a 2-1 shootout win over Central Division-leading Chicago three nights earlier.

Last season, neither Los Angeles nor Ottawa were accounted for in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but both would be in if the playoffs started today.

Los Angeles, in search of its first playoff birth since 2002, sits second in the Pacific Division, while Ottawa is battling Boston and Buffalo for the Northeast Division lead.