Preview, Game Day #41: St. Louis Blues @ Los Angeles Kings
(plugs in karaoke mic) OHHHHHH WE'RE HALFWAY TH-
St. Louis Blues @ Los Angeles Kings
Time: 7:30 Pacific
TV: Fox Sports West, Fox Sports Midwest
Enemy Reading: St. Louis Game Time
Los Angeles Kings
Lucic-Kopitar-Toffoli
Pearson-Carter-Gaborik
King-Lewis-Brown
Mersch-Lecavalier-Nolan
McNabb-Doughty
Muzzin-Martinez
Ehrhoff-Schenn
Quick
(Enroth)
Scratched: Andreoff, Shore, McBain Injured: Clifford, Greene
St. Louis Blues
Steen-Backes-Brouwer
Fabbri-Lehtera-Tarasenko
Paajarvi-Berglund-Upshall
Jaskin-Brodziak-Reaves
Gunnarsson-Pietrangelo
Edmundson-Shattenkirk
Bortuzzo-Parayko
Elliott
Injured: Stastny, Allen, Bouwmeester, Ott, Schwartz
Stats & Such
(Fancy stats courtesy War on Ice)
| Team | Blues | Kings |
| Record | 23-14-7 | 26-12-2 |
| Points | 53 | 54 |
| Division Rank | 3rd | 1st |
| Streak | Lost 5 | Won 1 |
| Goals For/Game | 2.43 | 2.62 |
| Goals Against/Game | 2.48 | 2.18 |
| ES Goal % | 51.4 | 53.8 |
| ES Shot % | 53.4 | 54.1 |
| ES PDO | 99.5 | 99.9 |
| ES Corsi % | 52.7 | 56.1 |
| ES Fenwick % | 53.1 | 55.7 |
| ES Scoring Chance % | 51.7 | 55.4 |
| ES High-Danger SC % | 49.7 | 53.4 |
| Power Play % (Rank) | 21.5 (6th) | 19.8 (10th) |
| Penalty Kill % (Rank) | 85.2 (3rd) | 81.5 (11th) |
| Starting Goalie (tonight) | Elliott | Quick |
| Goalie Record | 5-4-4 | 23-9-1 |
| Save % | .916 | .924 |
| ES Save % | .955 | .933 |
Notes:
- This is a really fortunate run of games for LA. The Kings beat Toronto on Thursday with the Leafs on Game 2 of a back-to-back Anaheim-LA set. The Blues face LA tonight; they're also coming off a tough game with the Ducks yesterday. The Kings get Detroit on Monday; guess who the Red Wings play the day before? LA then faces Ottawa, who get two whole days to recover from their Ducks showdown, but LA gets four days off. It'd be nice to capitalize on that.
- St. Louis, by the way, gave Anaheim their first win when trailing after two this season. I wonder what might be the cause of those late-game struggles...
- ... holy injuries, Batman!
Stastny, Bouwmeester and Allen will not play tonight and will be evaluated by the medical staff on Monday in St. Louis. #stlblues
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) January 10, 2016 - Also of note, Steve Ott remains out of the lineup with his injury, which is terrific news for players who don't want their helmets licked or their heads elbowed.
- Thanks to Jon Rosen for ensuring I didn't have to search for interesting facts about today's goaltending matchup...
Brian Elliott. One win, three shutouts in nine career appearances against LA. Have seen a couple 1-0 (SO) games between these teams.
— Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) January 10, 2016 - In LA's net is Jonathan Quick. Not much needs to be said about how good he's been lately, and it feels like he owns the Blues, but his regular season numbers against St. Louis (2.34, .917) are merely slightly better than his career ones. I assume his playoff numbers against the Blues are better. Jhonas Enroth got the first start against the Blues this year, which was a shutout.
- All eyes were on Vincent Lecavalier and Luke Schenn on Thursday. I assume most will still be on them as they look to follow up a serviceable debut.
- PREDICTION: The Kings win by as many goals as San Jose does tonight.
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