New Jersey Devils @ Los Angeles Kings
Time: 7:30 Pacific
TV: Fox Sports West
Enemy Reading: All About the Jersey
Los Angeles Kings
Lucic – Kopitar – Carter
Pearson – Lecavalier – Toffoli
King – Lewis – Brown
Clifford – Shore – Versteeg
Scuderi – Doughty
Muzzin – Martinez
McNabb – Schenn
Quick
(Enroth)
Injured: Gaborik, Greene, Nolan Scratched: McBain, Andreoff
New Jersey Devils
Kennedy – Henrique – Smith-Pelly
Boucher – Zajac – Palmieri
Blandisi – Kalinin – Sislo
Farnham – Gionta – Ruutu
Greene – Larsson
Moore – Schlemko
Helgeson – Warsofsky
Kinkaid
(Denis)
Injured: Tootoo, Elias, Tlusty, Cammalleri, Schneider, Josefson Scratched: Severson, Merrill
Stats & Such
(Fancy stats courtesy War on Ice)
| Team | Kings | Devils |
| Record | 40-22-4 | 32-29-7 |
| Points | 84 | 71 |
| Division Rank | 1st! | 7th |
| Streak | Won 2 | Won 1 |
| Goals For/Game | 2.71 | 2.22 |
| Goals Against/Game | 2.3 | 2.5 |
| ES Goal % | 52.6 | 45.1 |
| ES Shot % | 54.6 | 46.7 |
| ES PDO | 99.5 | 99.5 |
| ES Corsi % | 56.1 | 46.6 |
| ES Fenwick % | 56.0 | 47.3 |
| ES Scoring Chance % | 54.2 | 48.0 |
| ES High-Danger SC % | 53.8 | 48.5 |
| Power Play % (Rank) | 22.3 (4th) | 20.9 (9th) |
| Penalty Kill % (Rank) | 80.8 (17th) | 82.2 (9th) |
| Starting Goalie (today) | Quick | Kinkaid |
| Goalie Record | 34-17-3 | 6-6-0 |
| Save % | .919 | .909 |
| ES Save % | .931 | .916 |
Notes:
- Hey, look, Keith Kinkaid is starting in goal! Last time LA saw Kinkaid, he stopped all 28 shots in a 1-0 shutout one month ago. Lightning doesn’t normally strike twice, does it?
- The Kings’ current alignment, as much as some of us have criticized it, has now led to consecutive wins; with no morning skate today, we can only assume they’re sticking with it.
- Rob Scuderi, then. He’s played 23 minutes in each of the last two contests. His partner (Doughty) has benefited from a slightly smaller workload since the deadline, and he played fewer than 28 minutes in those same two games. Sutter had some words on him, via LA Kings Insider…
That’s what you’re looking for, is just consistent. It’s not expecting something you’re not capable of. That’s what we want from Scuds. Scuds is clearly a guy that the less you notice him, the better he is, clearly. That hasn’t changed. He can still play There were some talking about that he couldn’t play the minutes, or he couldn’t play, well, he played every game last year, he played 19 minutes and he was on a good hockey team and a plus player, and he played every playoff game. He’s the only guy in that room, actually, him and Versteeg, that played a playoff game last year, so why isn’t he still able to do that? There’s no reason why shouldn’t be able to. He’s healthy and fits the program, so it’s just still whether you want to or not.
…. and those are certainly words. Scuderi’s ice time is going to drop, of course, but the hopes of him regularly getting no more than 12-15 minutes a game might be on life support.
- Milan Lucic: six points in his last four games
Jeff Carter: five points in his last four games
Anze Kopitar: six points in his last five games
Tanner Pearson: six points in his last six games
Drew Doughty: five points in his last five games
Alec Martinez: five points in his last six gamesCarry on, gents.
- Not too many words on New Jersey, because everyone knows what you’re gonna get when you face New Jersey. Injuries have given them as anonymous a forward group as I’ve seen in a while, and with Patrik Elias, Mike Cammalleri, Jordin Tootoo, and Jiri Tlusty all sitting, the Devils’ gameplan might be even more conservative than usual.
- It hasn’t paid off lately, though. Before Kinkaid’s shutout of the Sharks on Thursday, New Jersey had allowed six, four, three, four, four, and six goals in their prior six games. It would SEEM like LA has a good chance at lighting up the scoreboard.
- PREDICTION: Kings 1, Devils 0. You’ve been warned.