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You Again! [Game #41 Preview – CBJ]

Brief preview today, as I am also battling the flu monster (must seek Bobby Orr meds to supplement ginger tea).

Tonight the Kings do battle with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and also themselves. (Snakes in the brain, as TM said once.) Where you find confidence when you’ve been messing everything up lately? How about you just remember that you’re the same team that kicked ass last month, and…play the way you did back then? Easier said than done — but they still have to snap out of it on their own. At the midpoint of the season, there’s a lot of hockey left to play.

Roster Notes for the Kings: Willie Mitchell and Alexei Ponikarovsky are back. (Put on your lucky socks! Cross your fingers! Make a sign against the evil eye!) This means that the defense will return to the usual offensive type + stay at home pairs: Scuderi-Doughty, Johnson-Mitchell, and Greene-Martinez.

Poni has been bumped up to the top line, and Richardson has been scratched. Though I can’t say he deserves that, the BJs have a lot of physical players so that must be why Murray wanted Westgarth back.

Roster notes for the Blue Jackets: (IN) LW Matt Calvert, recalled from the AHL; ex-King Mathieu Garon (.908 SV%, 2.50 GAA) is in net. (OUT) Ethan Moreau (ribs). Mike “Make it Rain” Commodore, who was often a healthy scratch anyway, was also sent home.

The Jackets are 0-3 on this road trip, but they probably look at our homestand record and feel better about themselves. Both teams have particularly struggled on the penalty kill lately; their power play, though, is also hurting at the moment. R.J. Umberger had been their hottest scorer of late (4 game goal scoring streak) before being shut out by the Ducks.

The Kings lost their last game against Columbus 5-3 by committing some lapses in the third. Fix that, please. Fix everything.  Stick to the system. And throw some salt over your shoulder, it couldn’t hurt.

Talking Points