Game Day #75: Kings-Jets Preview

Los Angeles Kings v Winnipeg Jets (Staples Center)

Time: 7:00 PM

TV: CBC, Fox Sports West

Enemy reading: Arctic Ice Hockey

Jets (projected) lineup:

Ladd-Little-Frolik
Byfuglien-Jokinen-Wheeler
Kane-O'Dell-Halischuk
Tangradi-Slater-Setoguchi

Stuart-Trouba
Enstrom-Ellerby
Pardy-Postma

Montoya

Injured: James Wright, Grant Clitsome, Chris Thorburn, Mark Scheifele, Ondrej Pavelec, Zach Bogosian; Scratched: Patrice Cormier, Anthony Peluso

Kings (projected) lineup:

Gaborik-Kopitar-Williams
Pearson-Carter-Toffoli
King-Stoll-Brown
Clifford-Richards-Lewis

Muzzin-Doughty
Regehr-Voynov
Mitchell-Martinez

Quick

Injured: n/a; Scratched: Matt Greene, Jordan Nolan

Game Notes:

• After a one game absence, Dwight King is back. This means, I hope, that his family/personal situation has been happily resolved and all is well. Yay, Dwight King.
• Also yay that Pearson and Toffoli stay in the top six. I'm unsure why Darryl Sutter won't try a King-Richards-Brown line, bumping Stoll to where he probably belongs, but also I don't really care that much. So!
• Can we please all take a moment to contemplate this Jets lineup? Is it not magnificently bizarre? Obviously the injuries to Mark Scheifele and Zach Bogosian have left holes, but the Jets' depth is mesmerisingly bad. Dustin Byfuglien playing forward when he's desperately needed on defence, Evander Kane on the third line, Matt Halischuk being relied on to do anything useful...wow.
  
• If you are one of those weirdos who was afraid that the Kings were going to trade Keaton Ellerby and then he was going to get good, you can relax! He remains pretty terrible.
• Notable sieve Ondrej Pavelec is injured, so back-up goaltender Al Montoya, who is serviceable if not notable, will be in net for the Jets.
• The Jets are technically still alive in the playoff race, but in real life, they're playing for pride at this point. They have, however, already beaten the Sharks on this swing through California, so now I'm annoyed at them, and I'll be super annoyed if they go on to lose to the Ducks.
• This game means basically nothing.
  
• ~Fun With Numbers~ from Extra Skater. Kings good, Jets not so good (stop me when this starts getting repetitive!). Instead of talking about all the Jets who suck, let's discuss Bryan Little, former pride of the Barrie Colts. Look at him, working so hard and getting shit done on this team that inexplicably plays Anthony Peluso sometimes. If they had an NHL award for "dude who gets the most shit done on a worthless team", it would probably go to Phil Kessel. But Bryan Little would at least be nominated!
  
• Prediction: Kings win 5-3, the Winnipeg media writes more dumb racist shit about Evander Kane, he demands a trade, and just stays in LA forever. Hooray!