Los Angeles Kings v Minnesota Wild (Staples Center)
Time: 7.30 PM
TV: Fox Sports West
Enemy reading: Hockey Wilderness
Wild (projected) lineup:
Parise-Koivu-Pominville
Bouchard-Brodziak-Setoguchi
Clutterbuck-Granlund-Coyle
Rupp-Konopka-Mitchell
Suter-Brodin
Clark-Gilbert
Spurgeon-Stoner
Backstrom
Injured: Heatley (wrist), Cullen (lower body); Scratched: Faulk, Prosser
Kings (projected) lineup:
Brown-Kopitar-Williams
Toffoli-Richards-Carter
King-Stoll-Lewis
Clifford-Richardson/Fraser-Nolan
Muzzin-Doughty
Scuderi-Voynov
Regehr-Ellerby
Bernier
Injured: Greene (back), Mitchell (knee); Scratched: Martinez
- The Kings let the Wild off the hook in their last meeting, squandering a lead and losing in a shootout. This time, Bernier gets a nod over Quick. No comment from the goal sticks.
Los Angeles is the better possession squad going into the matchup, but Regehr should take a while to adjust, and Minnesota just upgraded their top line. Sloppiness was a problem last time out. This could be tricky. - Minnesota’s lines are based off of Mike Russo’s projections. Heatley suffered an injury in the last game against San Jose.
New acquisition (and fellow Buffalo fire sale refugee) Pominville should slot in nicely on this new-look Wild team. His production suffered when apart from Vanek, but he’s a solid addition who should have no problem maintaining his point totals with great players like Koivu and Parise. - I’m very glad to see the Kings’ top four intact, but I’m going to keep my eye on how well the new Regehr-Ellerby duo gets the puck out of the zone. Everyone knows our concerns about Regehr’s numbers; let’s hope we’re in for a happy surprise.
Go Kings go!/