Colorado Avalanche v Los Angeles Kings Live

Without any doubts, things worked out much better than most Avalanche fans were expecting prior to this year's NHL campaign. Trying to continue their upswing, the Colorado Avalanche will travel to California to take on the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Sunday at 3:30 a.m. GMT.

Much like the Avs, the Kings were coming off another disappointing season in 2008-09 but managed to improve considerably this year. More specifically, L.A. rallied to a 36-20-3 record and is still in the race for home-ice advantage. Especially the Kings' offense around Ryan Smyth and Anze Kopitar was on fire so far, averaging no less than 3.1 goals per contest. Even though Los Angeles' defensive lines experienced their fair share of issues, there is no doubt that the franchise's front-office is very pleased with the performance of coach Terry Murray's squad. Offensively, Anze Kopitar leads the team with 27 goals and 62 points in 59 appearances.

The Avalanche on the other hand made an even larger leap than the Kings compared to last season. After being among the worst teams in the entire league in 2008-09, the franchise from Colorado finds itself holding on to the third place in the Western Conference, posting a solid 34-19-6 record. Playing well at both ends of the ice, the Avs showed that their young team has a bright future ahead of it and could make some noise down the stretch. Once again leading all scores is center Paul Stastny who recorded 12 goals and 42 assists for a total of 54 points. Considering the way both teams have played thus far, it looks like the Avs and Kings could find themselves on a fairly level playing field on Sunday night. Both teams have shown that they have no trouble finding the net, but experienced a few issues as far as consistently bringing the same effort night in and night out goes.

You can watch all games of the Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings right here on www.watchlivenhl.com, the home of NHL live streaming.