Game Day #9: Kings-Stars Preview

Los Angeles Kings v Dallas Stars (Staples Center)

Time: 7.30 PM

TV: Fox Sports West

Enemy reading: Defending Big D

Stars (projected) lineup:

Benn-Seguin-Peverley
Whitney-Eakin-Chiasson
Roussel-Horcoff-Cole
Garbutt-Fiddler-Nichushkin/MacDermid

Robidas-Dillon
Daley-Lesser Benn
Gonchar-Goligoski

Ellis

Injured: Kari Lehtonen; Scratched: Chris Mueller, Kevin Connauton

Kings (projected) lineup:

Brown-Kopitar-Williams
Carcillo-Richards-Carter
King-Stoll-Lewis
Clifford-Fraser-Nolan

Regehr-Doughty
Mitchell-Voynov
Muzzin-Greene

Quick

Game notes:

• I feel like every time I look at the Stars roster for the first time in the season, I end up shouting "holy crap, [that dude] plays for Dallas now??" Seriously, Dan Ellis is in goal tonight? Oh, Kari Lehtonen might be injured again? Well, at least nothing's changed there.
  
• Darryl Sutter continues to rearrange deck chairs on the Titanic the forward lines, re-inserting Colin Fraser and scratching Matt Frattin, and re-assembling the old third line. Dan Carcillo stays on the second line with the ~Philly connection~. RIP Alec Martinez.
  
• The Kings have had two bad games in a row, and Sutter seems deathly intent on trying out literally every single possible set of line combinations, so this stuff is hardly surprising. With the team now down to 25th in the league in goals per game, what else is there to do? (Note: it's not just a bad luck thing - the Kings had five scoring changes against Nashville. FIVE. Versus SIXTEEN for the Preds.) *cough*callupTylerToffoli*cough*
• Why does the power play suck so much? Did Jamie Kompon place a curse on the Kings? I NEED TO KNOW.
• The Stars are batting .500 through six games, although they're coming off what must be a satisfying shootout win against the previously undefeated Sharks. The Stars kicked the crap out of the Kings last season, even at Staples, but their team looks so different now that I don't think that really matters.
• Straight-up, the new Stars logo is hideous. What a waste of a beautiful green.
  
• I hate the Stars and neither of my two laptops is functioning properly and I'm sad about the Kings, so I'm ending this preview here. Prediction: Kings win 3-2, and the ghost of Anze Kopitar scores a goal????