How to Watch
Game Time: 7:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time
TV: Fox Sports West
Radio: iHeart Radio
The Opposition: Canes Country
What to Watch
- This will mark the third game of a five-game home stand for the Los Angeles Kings. Fans in attendance will receive a Kings and Los Angeles Chargers tailgate apron for their Chargers Night promotion. The timing of this is uncanny given that both Los Angeles football teams are the talk of the town (and not in a good way).
- Previously undefeated at 5-0-0, the Carolina Hurricanes were dealt their first loss of the season last Saturday to the Columbus Blue Jackets, whose sixth worst penalty killing unit in the league denied goals on all three of the Canes’ power play opportunities.
- The latest episode of “Black & White“ sheds a light on how the Kings players are embracing a new brand of hockey with more younger faces on the roster to compete in the faster tempo the game is operating in today. To Anze Kopitar’s point, there are seven players that are 30 years of age or older compared to 13 players during his rookie year in 2006-07. In his first year with the franchise, head coach Todd McLellan has elite veteran leadership on this team that was not necessarily prevalent during his stint in Edmonton. “Now because we’re playing a little bit more attractive system, everybody feels better about it,“ Kopitar said.
- After scoring depth took a hit with forward Jordan Martinook scheduled to miss the next six to eight weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a muscle injury, the Hurricanes are hoping their young guns take the reigns from third line winger Erik Haula, who currently leads the team in goals with five. Andrei Svechnikov, the sophomore forward from Russia, has eight points in six games after tallying 37 points (20 goals) during his rookie campaign in 2018-19. Meanwhile Teuvo Teravainen served as Los Angeles’ kryptonite in the last three meetings against the Kings, picking up seven points on the 13 goals that were attained for Carolina.
- With Kopitar more determined than ever to pick up his slack after a disappointing campaign led to missing the playoffs for the third time in last five years (and 60 points after a 92-point effort two years ago), Dustin Brown has become the beneficiary of his Slovenian linemate’s comeback trail. Given the type of player Brown was, deterioration in production as he entered his mid-30s was to be expected. But it seems he still has plenty of gas left in the tank as he is on trending towards the 20-goal mark for the third consecutive season and become the sixth player in Kings history to reach 300 career goals, producing four of his six points in the last two games./
Lineups
Los Angeles Kings
Iafallo-Kopitar-Brown
Carter-Lizotte-Toffoli
Kovalchuk-Amadio-Lewis
Clifford-Kempe-Wagner
Hutton-Doughty
Martinez-Walker
Ryan-Roy
Campbell off first
— Jack Harris (@Jack_A_Harris) October 15, 2019
Carolina Hurricanes
Niederreiter-Aho-Teravainen
Svechnikov-Staal-McGinn
Dzingel-Haula-Necas
Foegele-Wallmark-Gibbons
Slavin-Hamilton
Edmundson-Pesce
Gardiner-Fleury