16: Preview, Kings @ Sharks, Western Conference Round 1, Game 3
For any other team it's a must-win. For us... yeah, probably still a must-win.
2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs, First Round
Game 3: San Jose Sharks @ Los Angeles Kings
Time: 7:30 PM Pacific
Location: SAP Center
TV: NBCSN, Prime Ticket, CSN-CA
Live Stream, Radio, International & More: here
Projected Lines
Hertl - Thornton - Pavelski
Donskoi - Couture - Ward
Nieto - Marleau - Karlsson
Spaling - Tierney - Wingels
Vlasic - Braun
Martin - Burns
Dillon - Polak
Jones
(Reimer)
Lucic - Kopitar - Gaborik
Pearson - Carter - Toffoli
King - Lecavalier - Brown
Clifford - Lewis - Versteeg
McNabb - Doughty
Muzzin - Schenn
Scuderi - McBain
Quick
(Enroth)
Scratched: Andreoff, Shore Injured: Martinez, Nolan, Greene
Game Notes:
- No line rushes reported this morning, but Jon Rosen reports that Nick Shore stayed on for extra work and Kyle Clifford did not. I'm assuming this moves Dwight King up to the third line, which.... ehhhhh.
- #freealecmartinezfromthelimitsofbeinginjured
- I bought cupcakes in a valiant effort to turn things around. Both for the Kings, and for Tyler Toffoli, who has been held without a point in this series.
Well, I did my part to turn this series around! (good work @tytoff16, @Sprinkles, and @LAKingsCare) pic.twitter.com/ZtCMCc5bwC
— Eric (@EricJFTC) April 18, 2016 - Enough about my cupcakes, which were delicious, thanks for asking. What are the Kings doing differently to turn things around? The answer is... not much, actually. The team has come back from worse positions, seems to trust their routine, and values the process (which has been good all year). Aside from possible line shuffling, it's not like the philosophy will change, and that's good news.
- What hasn't been good news is the individual showings of LA's top offensive players. Their top-end guys have combined for one goal, a fluky goal off the stick of Jeff Carter in Game One. They'll be feeling the pressure to come through tonight, and it's hard to imagine Anze Kopitar and Tyler Toffoli remaining goalless for another evening.
- The Sharks are making no changes.
- San Jose's home record has been a topic of conversation all year, as they're below .500 in the Tank this season. I'm sure it'll be difficult though.
- Interesting nugget from Kevin Kurz on the All the Kings Men podcast: San Jose is 1-8-1 when returning home after a road trip of 2+ games. This could be totally meaningless, but you're damn right I'm clinging to it.
It’s a tough hill, and we won’t go quietly away, that’s for sure.
— Darryl Sutter Says (@DSutterSays) April 23, 2014 - PREDICTION: Kings 3, Sharks 1. Jonathan Quick makes 32 saves.
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