Although the @*#!-ing Grammys are finally over, the Kings are on the road again tonight, on the last stop of what has been a fairly uninspiring tour of the Central Division. Proving that nobody knows you when you’re down and out, the Kings played mostly a beauty of a game against the Detroit Red Wings yesterday afternoon, and it was a cryin’ shame that a few key lapses meant that they received zero points for their efforts. Logic, if maybe not #fancystats, dictates that the team should be fired up and ready to lay it all out there, give it 110 per cent for the full 60, etc, etc. Unfortunately, they face an equally frustrated opponent tonight: the Blues, a lacklustre 1-3-1 in their last five (including going 0-for on this current homestand).
Los Angeles Kings vs St Louis Blues (Scottrade Center)
Time: Blues After Hours 5.00 PM Pacific
TV: Fox Sports West
Enemy reading: St Louis Game Time
Blues (projected) lineup:
McDonald-Backes-Oshie
Perron-Berglund-Stewart
Sobotka-Steen-Tarasenko
Schwartz/D’Agostini-Nichol-Reaves
Cole-Pietrangelo
Jackman-Shattenkirk
Redden-Polak
Halak
Kings (projected) lineup:
Gagne-Kopitar-Brown
Penner-Carter-Williams
King-Richards-Nolan
Clifford-Stoll-Lewis
Doughty-Ellerby
Voynov-Martinez
Scuderi-Drewiske
Bernier
Game notes:
- I mostly made up those Kings lines. They’re based on a)what I observed yesterday versus the Wings (although my vision was occasionally obscured by bitter tears and the very rude people sitting in front of me), b)the news that Dustin “Born Under a Bad Sign” Penner is back, and c)random guessing.
- Blues lines are from St Louis Today, although our compatriots at St Louis Game Time advise that Hitch has been switching things up too. Oh, that crazy Blues (coach).
- In the Wings game recap, Eric asked if the Kings were the unluckiest team in the league. I ain’t superstitious, but it’s looking pretty bad. Prior to the Jeff Carter trade last season, the Kings were the kids who couldn’t shoot straight, propelled into the playoffs by incredible, literally back-breaking goaltending. Now, the Kings still can’t get the puck into the net, except they’re skating in front of the worst EV SV% in the NHL.
- The hard luck Blues have been dealing with some bad goaltending as well, and are shooting only slightly better than the Kings have been. The Kings are certainly better than their record indicates, but it’s a fair bet that the Blues are too.
- Although it didn’t manage to net a goal, and it still ranks fourth-worst in the League, the Kings power play was definitely not messin’ around against the Wings. Coach Sutter’s revamped units looked more dangerous than they have almost all season, denied mostly by one of Jimmy Howard’s best performances ever. Let’s hope the Kings can victimize a Blues PK clicking at only 75 per cent this season so far.
- This is the first meeting between these teams since last season’s Western Conference Semi-Finals. There might be a bit of playoff bad blood rising (Dwight King better keep his head up), but I’d be willing to bet that both teams are more preoccupied with halting their current skids than revisiting old history.
- Blues before sunrise – let’s hope this night time is the right time, and maybe we’re gonna make it after all. Go Kings Go.