Los Angeles Kings v Pittsburgh Penguins (Consol Energy Center)
Time: 4.00 PM
TV: Fox Sports West
Kings projected lineup:
Pearson – Carter – Toffoli
King – Richards – Brown
Clifford – Stoll – Williams
Van der Gulik – Andreoff – Nolan
Doughty – Muzzin
Regehr – Martinez
McNabb – Greene
Jones
Injured: Gaborik (??), Lewis (“upper-middle body”), Kopitar (upper body); Suspended: Voynov
Penguins projected lineup:
Kunitz – Crosby – Hornqvist
Dupuis – Malkin – Comeau
Spaling – Sutter – Downie
Sill – Goc – Adams
Dupuis – Malkin – Comeau
Spaling – Sutter – Downie
Sill – Goc – Adams
Letang – Maatta
Martin – Ehrhoff
Martin – Ehrhoff
Despres – Scuderi
Fleury
Injured: Bennett (lower body)
Enemy reading: Pensburgh
Game notes:
- David Van der Gulik is here now! What is a David Van der Gulik? He is a 31-year-old who has spent almost all of his pro career in the AHL, getting called up for a handful of games. His longest time spent in the NHL was 25 games (6 points) during the 2011-12 season and last season he was up for 2 games (0 points). Van der Gulik gets his first game as a King courtesy of Jordan Weal’s performance bonus, which doesn’t allow him to qualify as the King’s emergency call-up while they are absent the services of Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik, and Trevor Lewis.
- Since the Kings play in Detroit tomorrow night, Jonathan Quick is being preserved for the (theoretically) more winnable game and Martin Jones will start tonight. Both goalies have looked steady-ish to start the season. If the Kings lose this game, it will probably not be because of goaltending. Even if it is, meh. That’s the nice thing about building a cushion with a perfect homestand.
- The news out of Pittsburgh is that 20-year-old defenceman Olli Maatta has a tumour in his neck which may be cancerous. It will be surgically removed next week, and he’ll be able to play until then, but obviously it’s scary stuff. If I say that our good wishes go out to him, will I be once again foisting my social issues onto the commentariat? (Yes, this is a trick question.)
- The Penguins are also missing young forward Beau Bennett, who is on the tail end of his recovery from a lower body injury. Otherwise, their clearly terrifying top six, their very not terrifying bottom six, and their decent(??) defence are all healthy. I haven’t kept up with how off-season acquisition Christian Ehrhoff has been doing in Pittsburgh thus far, but his signing gave the Penguins two quite good pairings on paper, and also one pairing which includes Rob Scuderi. (Sorry, Rob. Thanks for your face injury that led the Kings to their first Stanley Cup. Miss you, buddy.)
- As I’m sure you’ve seen/heard mentioned several times today, the Penguins powerplay is currently running hot at an over 40 per cent scoring clip. That is prooobably not sustainable, but they’re still very good, and the penalty kill will have to be quite sharp tonight.
- Prediction: David Van der Gulik OT gamewinner obviously.