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Preview: Kings try to keep cool

Posted on by Robyn Pennington

How to Watch

Game Time: 7:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time

TV: Fox Sports West

Radio: iHeart Radio

The Opposition: Matchsticks and Gasoline

What to Watch

  • I’d be remiss if I didn’t beat the drum of Drew Doughty vs Matthew Tkachuk yet another time. I don’t care if the horse is dead. The last matchup was rather entertaining with Doughty getting the better end of the deal by scoring the game-winning goal.
  • Things have not gone quite as smoothly for the Los Angeles Kings since that game. They only have one win in that time, a 7-4 win which saw them blow their 4-1 lead.
  • Tobias Bjornfot and Carl Grundstrom were rotting away in the press box and there’s apparently no current plans to play them, so off to the Ontario Reign they went and helped them secure a 5-2 win over the San Jose Barracuda today.
  • Due to the rather… gritty nature of tonight’s opponent, Kurtis MacDermid could draw back into the lineup. If he does, expect him to play 5 minutes and try to fight everyone on the Calgary Flames.
  • Keep an eye on Ilya Kovalchuk. He had a hat trick of penalties, but he was at least making a concerted effort. Also watch out for Jeff Carter. He had a frustrating night against the Buffalo Sabres but he was one of the few Kings who was actually generating chances.
  • On the other side, the Kings will need to be able to solve Big Save Dave (David Rittich) and be wary of Milan Lucic, who scored his first points in a Flames uniform on Thursday. The Kings are cursed so expect him to get the dagger tonight, too./

Lineups

Los Angeles Kings

Iafallo-Kopitar-Brown
Carter-Lizotte-Toffoli
Kovalchuk-Kempe-Lewis
Clifford-Amadio-Wagner

Hutton-Doughty
Martinez-Walker
MacDermid-Roy

Quick
(Courtesy of Jon Rosen)

Talking Points