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Off Day Watch, 12/9: Hitting Pays, Apparently

The current points setup in the NHL creates parity, and some would call it “artificial” parity. When so many teams play their endgame just to earn a point, that can happen. That’s helped a couple teams more than others. Here are each team’s ROW counts, in standings order: 15, 15, 13, 13, 15, 12, 13, 12, 12, 12, 11, 9, 10, 6. The bolded 15 is San Jose and the bolded 12 is Anaheim. The Ducks are awful in OT, but they get to OT a lot. That’s how the Ducks are even with Sharks and three points ahead of the Kings, who also have twelve wins in regulation and overtime. The Kings will be in good shape when tiebreaks come into play, but they have to win a little more often first.

HIGHLIGHTS TO WATCH

KINGS WATCH

  • Looks like as we (and everyone else) predicted, there will be lineup changes tomorrow. Clifford and Dowd sit. [LA Kings Insider]
  • Luc Robitaille’s first career hat trick was 30 years ago today. His last one was just under 11 years ago. Longevity! [NHL]
  • Tyler Toffoli would like to remind you that you’ve still got a week to register your child for Lil’ Kings. /

LEAGUE WATCH

  • Cal Clutterbuck is going to be a very rich man. Hitting still pays. [Lighthouse Hockey]
  • When Jonathan Quick goes after a player he’s “throwing a tantrum,” but when Carey Price does it he’s “defending his crease.” Hm. Then again, Quick once punched Corey Perry in the junk and didn’t see any repercussions, so maybe I’ll shut up. [Eyes on the Prize]
  • Yesterday’s opponent was recently estimated to be the league’s least valuable franchise by Forbes. Said franchise disagreed. [Canes Country]/

WATCH THIS

“Black and White,” from the LA Kings, brings us the story of Marian Gaborik’s recovery from his broken foot.

GAME TO WATCH

You have to take multiple freeways to get from one place to the other, so there’s no catchy name for Anaheim-San Jose. It’s on, though.

Talking Points