Los Angeles Kings v Anaheim Ducks (Staples Center)
Time: 6:30 PM
TV: RDS, TSN, NBCSN
Enemy reading: Anaheim Calling
Ducks (projected) lineup:
Maroon-Getzlaf-Perry
Silfverberg-Perreault-Selanne
Cogliano-Koivu-Winnik
Smith-Pelly-Bonino-Palmieri
Fowler-Lovejoy
Lindholm-Beauchemin
Allen-Vatanen
Hiller
Injured: Stephane Robidas, Sheldon Souray, Tim Jackman, Frederik Andersen, Matt Beleskey; Scratched: Mark Fistric, Rickard Rakell, Luca Sbisa
Kings (projected) lineup:
Gaborik-Kopitar-Brown
Pearson-Carter-Toffoli
King-Stoll-Williams
Clifford-Richards-Lewis
Muzzin-Doughty
Schultz-Voynov
Greene-Martinez
Quick
Injured: Willie Mitchell, Robyn Regehr; Scratched: Andy Andreoff, Patrik Bartosak, Derek Forbort, Colin Miller, Scott Sabourin, Nick Shore, Jordan Weal, Jordan Nolan, Brayden McNabb, Andrew Bodnarchuk, Linden Vey, Andrew Campbell, Colin Fraser
Game Notes:
- When I said “bring me the head of Frederik Andersen”, I did not mean that I actually wanted him to get injured. Uhh, oops? Unfortunately for the Ducks, Andersen, Matt Beleskey, and Mathieu Perreault all suffered injuries during Game 3. Andersen and Beleskey have been ruled out for Game 4, John Gibson has been called up to back up Jonas Hiller, Daniel Winnik will be playing, and Perreault is a game-time decision.
- The Ducks lines up top are really just my semi-educated guesses, based on the fact that Patrick Maroon has done top-line duty beside Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry previously; we’ve seen the Cogliano-Koivu-Winnik line before as well.
- There continues to be no news on Willie Mitchell or Robyn Regehr for the Kings, and I think it’s likely that the Kings’ lineup remains intact tonight.
- The Kings played an all-round lacklustre game against the Ducks on Thursday – there were no outrageously terrible performances, but we saw a substantial number of minor errors from a lot of players, and nobody was able to step up and steal the show. It was disappointing to see them drop a game at home, and it turns this game into a rather critical one. The Kings staked themselves to a lead more through luck than anything else, and if the quality of their play doesn’t improve tonight, they’ll likely be looking at a best-of-three heading back to Anaheim.
- ~Fun With Numbers~ from Extra Skater.
- Prediction: bringing back a classic – Kings win the game like they’ll win the series, 4-1.