Game Day #53: Kings @ Blue Jackets

Columbus Blue Jackets v Los Angeles Kings (Nationwide Arena)

Time: 4:00 PM PST

TV: Fox Sports West

Enemy Reading: The Cannon

Lineups:

Los Angeles Kings

Gaborik–Kopitar–Brown
King–Carter–Toffoli
Lewis–Stoll–Williams
Clifford–Shore–Nolan

Doughty–Muzzin
Regehr–McNabb
Greene–McBain

Quick
(Jones)

Scratched: Andreoff; Injured: Pearson, Martinez; Suspended: Voynov

Columbus Blue Jackets

Gaudreau–Monahan–Hudler
Bouma–Backlund–Jones
Bollig–Colborne–Byron
Glencross–Stajan–Raymond
Giordano–Brodie
Russell–Wideman
Diaz–Engelland
Hiller
(Ramo)
Scratched: None; Injured: Smid

Notes:

• First, an appreciation of what Robyn Regehr did on Saturday...
  

No.	Player	Pos	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	S	Hits	BkS	PP TOI	SH TOI	TOI
44	R. Regehr	D	0	2	2	2	0	0	2	2	0:27	2:17	29:00

• Regehr, along with Matt Greene, should get a whole bunch of ice time today with Alec Martinez out of the lineup. We still don't know the defense pairings, though.
• I could have just written "STOP FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELVES, KINGS FANS" in place of the Blue Jackets' injury list. My goodness.
• Curtis McElhinney has a .915 save percentage this season, and stopped 34 of 35 on Saturday against Ottawa, so he's not a total disaster in net. Never forget, though, that he played 21 games for Anaheim in 2010-11 and put up an .890 save percentage. Ouch.
• That Saturday game was a strange one. McElhinney and Robin Lehner combined to stop all 46 shots they faced in the first two periods, but the game finished 4-1 after a Columbus outburst.
• Weirder than that? Their prior game, a 7-1 romp over the actually-good St. Louis Blues.
• That doesn't mean LA shouldn't win today. The Columbus bottom six and defensive corps are extremely thin thanks to injuries, and the Blue Jackets have a mere 49 points this season. The Kings aren't going to get the six points we humbly requested on this trip, but winning this game will salvage the journey. A loss will be incredibly discouraging.
• PREDICTION: Jack Johnson and Robyn Regehr go head-to-head a lot, amusing us all.