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Arlington, Va. • Mike Richards was supposed to be the Los Angeles Kings' Derek Jeter and represent the pivotal piece to winning championships. He won two Stanley Cups, yet was shown the door last summer.

Richards hit two highs and many more lows in four seasons with the Kings, who terminated his contract last summer. He had been sent to the minor leagues after his play and production dropped off and was arrested at the Canadian border in June for possession of a controlled substance.

The 31-year-old eventually settled a grievance with Los Angeles but was out of the NHL until the Washington Capitals signed him in January. Richards faces the Kings on Tuesday for the first time since his departure and insists there are no hard feelings toward the organization or Los Angeles general manager Dean Lombardi.

"He had to do things that he probably didn't want to do at the end of the day, but I didn't make it easy on him, either, to keep me around," Richards said. "I want to say fault on both parts, but it's probably more so on me, and he had to do what he had to do (for) what he thought benefited the L.A. Kings."

Lombardi could have bought out Richards with no salary-cap ramifications in the summer of 2014 after the Kings' second Cup but let the two-way forward and former Philadelphia Flyers captain convince him to keep him around. The GM adored Richards and still praises him for setting the tempo in the first playoff series in 2012 against Vancouver, the first sign Los Angeles was title-bound.

Acquired from Philadelphia at the 2011 draft, Richards had 15 points in the 20 games during 2012's Cup run and was his usual penalty-killing, defensive-minded self for the first two seasons before he became a fourth-liner and was a bit part of the 2014 championship. The Kings waived him and sent him to the American Hockey League for a stint a year ago with the hope Richards would get his game together, but that didn't happen and his 16 points were a career low. —

NHL standings

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Florida 57 33 18 6 72 160 134

Detroit 57 29 19 9 67 146 147

Boston 56 30 20 6 66 172 157

Tampa Bay 55 30 21 4 64 147 135

Montreal 57 27 26 4 58 157 158

Ottawa 57 25 26 6 56 163 181

Buffalo 57 23 28 6 52 136 160

Toronto 55 20 26 9 49 134 163

Metropolitan Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Washington 54 40 10 4 84 181 125

N.Y. Rangers 56 32 18 6 70 163 143

N.Y. Islanders 55 30 19 6 66 161 141

New Jersey 57 29 21 7 65 127 130

Pittsburgh 55 28 19 8 64 142 141

Carolina 56 25 21 10 60 137 149

Philadelphia 55 24 21 10 58 131 148

Columbus 57 23 28 6 52 148 178

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Central Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Dallas 57 37 15 5 79 187 154

Chicago 60 37 18 5 79 170 139

St. Louis 58 32 17 9 73 143 138

Nashville 57 26 21 10 62 151 152

Colorado 59 29 26 4 62 158 164

Minnesota 55 23 22 10 56 135 140

Winnipeg 55 25 27 3 53 142 160

Pacific Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Los Angeles 55 33 19 3 69 153 131

Anaheim 55 28 19 8 64 131 134

San Jose 54 29 20 5 63 160 146

Arizona 56 26 24 6 58 151 171

Vancouver 55 22 21 12 56 131 152

Calgary 55 25 27 3 53 150 168

Edmonton 57 22 29 6 50 143 171

NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss.

Monday's games

Florida 2, Pittsburgh 1, SO

N.Y. Islanders 4, Detroit 1

Anaheim 6, Calgary 4

Dallas 3, Nashville 2, OT

Chicago 7, Toronto 2

Arizona 6, Montreal 2

Minnesota at Vancouver, late

Tuesday's games

Philadelphia at New Jersey, 5 p.m.

Los Angeles at Washington, 5 p.m.

Winnipeg at Carolina, 5 p.m.

Boston at Columbus, 5 p.m.

Buffalo at Ottawa, 5:30 p.m.

San Jose at Tampa Bay, 5:30 p.m.

Dallas at St. Louis, 6 p.m.

Anaheim at Edmonton, 7 p.m.