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Game Day Watch, 12/28: Los Angeles Kings @ Vancouver Canucks

HOW TO WATCH

Game Time: 7:00 PM Pacific
TV: Fox Sports West, Sportsnet
Radio: KABC AM 790
Stream: Fox Sports Go (requires cable subscription)

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

if you’re a Kings fan: Hope you enjoyed the time off, Kings fans! The nice thing about the holidays is that they’re distracting me from the news that Tyler Toffoli’s day-to-day injury is more of a week-to-week one, and that he won’t appear in another game in this calendar year. What, you thought we were done trying to make up for the absence of a top scoring forward? Think again.

if you’re a Canucks fan: Hope, for some reason. This team has 31 points in 38 games, and yet, we’re still getting pieces from north of the border about how this team thinks they can make the playoffs. So I guess you’re watching for an 11-game winning streak, like the ones Columbus and Minnesota are on.

if you’re a hockey fan: The appeal of watching a division’s 5th-place team battle its 6th-placed team is minimal, but it is the only late game tonight. Give it a shot!

PLAYERS TO WATCH

for the Kings: Dustin Brown. He skates with Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik tonight, at long last. They’ll need to produce, because Jeff Carter can’t score in every game for the rest of the season, right?

for the Canucks: Nikita Tryamkin. The Russian rookie defenseman saw a huge increase in ice time last game as he scored his first career NHL goal, and along with Chris Tanev, he was the main penalty killer on D for Vancouver. Problem: the Canucks allowed a power play goal for the seventh straight game. Can that streak end tonight?

LEAGUE/WORLDWIDE WATCH

  • World Juniors are in full swing. Good news: Erik Cernak was named player of the game for Slovakia! Bad news: They were outshot 44-6 and lost 5-0. [Pension Plan Puppets]
  • The Sharks beat the Ducks last night in overtime, because “deserve” ain’t got nothing to do with it. [Fear the Fin]
  • If I were a Colorado fan, I wouldn’t even be mad about the Avs tipping four goals past their own goalie in a single game. More impressed than anything. [Mile High Hockey]/

WATCH THIS

Hope you got what you wanted.

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