Since we last tangled with the Phoenix Coyotes…
OUT: Adrian Aucoin (lower body) Paul Bissonnette, Gilbert Brule (Coyotes); Kyle Clifford, Andrei Loktionov (Kings).
Enemy Reading: Five For Howling
Lineups:
Whitney-Hanzal-Vrbata
Boedker-Vermette-Doan
Korpikoski-Langkow-Pyatt
Chipchura-Gordon-Pouliot
Yandle-Morris
Larsson-Rozsival
Klesla-Aucoin
Smith
Kings lineup:
Brown-Kopitar-Williams
Penner-Richards-Carter
King-Stoll-Lewis
Richardson-Fraser-Nolan
Scuderi-Doughty
Mitchell-Voynov
Martinez-Greene
Quick
“It’s always today and tomorrow, not last week.” –Darryl Sutter
“One day at a time” might be a cliche, but it’s a damn useful one. Everyone from the fans to reporters are looking ahead a little bit, even though “You don’t get nothing for 3.” How well will the players be able to keep their focus on one shift at a time? We’ll see tonight.
For all the players’ talk about the need for focus, though, we should be very clear that the Kings did keep the pressure on in Game 4. Per ESPN, here are the Kings’ shot locations in black. The sides are flipped, but you get the idea of how many shots came in the slot:
They could improve their power play, and get shots off more quickly. But the message from Sutter is to stick with the game-plan. No matter which team scores first, that kind of pressure should pay off.