Game Day #73, Preview: Los Angeles Kings @ Minnesota Wild
Can LA avoid consecutive losses for the first time in a month?
Los Angeles Kings @ Minnesota Wild
Time: 5:30 Pacific
TV: NBCSN
Enemy Reading: Hockey Wilderness
Los Angeles Kings
Lucic - Kopitar - Toffoli
Carter - Lecavalier - Brown
King - Shore - Lewis
Clifford - Dowd - Andreoff
Scuderi - Doughty
Muzzin - Martinez
McNabb - Schenn
Quick
(Enroth)
Injured: Gaborik, Greene, Nolan, Versteeg Scratched: McBain, Pearson (personal reasons)
Minnesota Wild
Zucker - Koivu - Coyle
Parise - Granlund - Jones
Niederreiter - Haula - Fontaine
Porter - Stoll - Schroeder
Suter - Spurgeon
Scandella - Brodin
Reilly - Dumba
Dubnyk
(Kuemper)
Stats & Such
(Fancy stats courtesy War on Ice)
| Team | Kings | Wild |
| Record | 44-23-5 | 34-28-11 |
| Points | 93 | 79 |
| Division Rank | 1st | 6th |
| Streak | Lost 1 | Won 2 |
| Goals For/Game | 2.75 | 2.66 |
| Goals Against/Game | 2.29 | 2.55 |
| ES Goal % | 54.8 | 51.9 |
| ES Shot % | 54.6 | 49.8 |
| ES PDO | 100.0 | 100.6 |
| ES Corsi % | 55.9 | 48.1 |
| ES Fenwick % | 55.7 | 48.9 |
| ES Scoring Chance % | 53.9 | 48.6 |
| ES High-Danger SC % | 54.1 | 49.9 |
| Power Play % (Rank) | 20.7 (8th) | 18.9 (14th) |
| Penalty Kill % (Rank) | 81.3 (14th) | 77.5 (27th) |
| Starting Goalie (today) | Quick | Dubynk |
| Goalie Record | 37-18-4 | 28-22-6 |
| Save % | .921 | .917 |
| ES Save % | .931 | .932 |
Notes:
- According to Michael Russo, Nic Dowd could be in the lineup...
Remains to be seen whether he'd play center or wing. If he's at center, seems possible that Jeff Carter would move to wing.Sounds like Nic Dowd will make his debut tonight vs. #mnwild
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) March 22, 2016
[UPDATE, 5:10 PM: Tanner Pearson will miss tonight's game due to "personal reasons," so Dowd will indeed play. Hope everything's okay.] - The Wild are fighting for their lives. After losing four of five games they dropped out of the Western Conference's top 8, but two shootout wins against Carolina and Chicago have them just one point behind Colorado.
- In typical Wild fashion, the leading scorer (Mikko Koivu) has just 49 points this season. How do they compensate? By having seven players with at least 39 points. The San Jose Sharks are the only team that can say that. Of course, the Sharks have three guys above 60 points, so this sort of low-ceiling, high-floor system is pretty unique. (Remove Anze Kopitar from the equation and LA looks awfully similar, though.)
- Devan Dubnyk wasn't about to duplicate his Vezina-nominated 2014-15 resurgence, but it's been a solid if unspectacular follow-up season. He had two god-awful games on the road before the consecutive shootout wins, though.
- LA's effort yesterday was lacking, to say the least, but it was understandable for a team that has clinched a playoff spot and probably isn't stressing over the division. I don't think it'll happen again for two reasons. #1: Darryl. #2: The Kings are 9-1-1 in the second game of back-to-backs this season. (Man, why aren't there back-to-backs in the postseason?)
- Defensemen notched both of the Kings' goals yesterday. Where you at, forwards?
- ... except for you, Anze Kopitar. Fifteen points in your last eleven games is good.
- PREDICTION: Jeff Carter scores, and it feels so good that he scores again.
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