Los Angeles Kings Face Former Western Conference Foe Detroit Red Wings Tonight!
Tonight the Los Angeles Kings will take on the Detroit Red Wings at Staples Center. Puck-drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PST at Staples Center.
The Kings enter tonight’s game on a monster seven-game win streak. L.A.’s last game was a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks outdoors at Levi’s Stadium as part of the 2015 Stadium Series. It was a fierce game that was capped off with a game-winning goal by Kings star forward Marian Gaborik.
The Red Wings are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Like many teams from the Eastern Conference Detroit is on a tour of California. Prior to Monday’s game against the Ducks, the Wings won a 7-6 overtime battle against the Dallas Stars.
Unfortunately the win came at a cost. Detroit superstar Henrik Zetterberg was injured toward the end of the game.
Los Angeles Kings
The Kings will stick with what’s been working. Expect the same lineup as Saturday’s game:
Forwards:
Marian Gaborik – Anze Kopitar – Dustin Brown
Dwight King – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Trevor Lewis – Jarret Stoll – Justin Williams
Kyle Clifford – Nick Shore – Jordan Nolan
Defensemen:
Robyn Regehr – Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin – Matt Greene
Brayden McNabb – Jamie McBain
Goaltenders:
Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones
Jonathan Quick has been a beast for the Kings over this stretch of wins. As we all know, when Quick is on his game so are the Kings. Quick is moving his stat numbers up; he’s now got a record of 24-15-10-3 and has a goals against average of 2.43, and a save percentage of .913.
Trevor Lewis and Dustin Brown have been jumping back and forth on the first and third lines. Brown will likely remain with Kopitar and Gaborik after the way the top line has played.
For the Kings it’s a matter of function: if the top two lines are scoring, the third and fourth line can focus on eating up minutes, keeping the forecheck going, and keeping the pressure on the opponents while generating some chances.
L.A. has figured out how to shore up some of the problems on defense. The Kings are missing Alec Martinez, but Jamie McBain has done a good job of stepping up and looking like a decent NHL defensemen.
Moving a stay-at-home D-man in Robyn Regehr alongside Drew Doughty gives the pair balance. The same is true for Jake Muzzin and Matt Greene. Breaking up the top-two in Muzzin and Doughty also evens the strength of the defensive unit as a whole.
Doughty playing an average of 29-minutes a game helps too. Doughty’s 29:28 of average time on the ice per game is the most of all players in the NHL.
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Red Wings to keep an eye on:
Tomas Tatar is the leading scorer of the Detroit Red Wings. Let me say that again: Tomas Tatar is the leading scorer of the Detroit Red Wings. It’s doubtful that many people saw that coming at the beginning of the season. Tatar has a team leading 24 goals, 20 assists and 44 points in 58 games.
Tatar doesn’t lead in power-play goals but he’s got a good 7 with the man advantage to his name. Keep an eye on Tatar, he may be a red-jersey that does some damage if the Kings aren’t mindful.
One player wearing the Winged-Wheel who is sure to do some damage is Pavel Datsyuk. In only 47 games this season Datsyuk leads the Red Wings in points. Not many people would be surprised Datsyuk is the leader. This season Datsyuk has 21 goals, 28 assists, 49 points, a +11 rating, 7 power-play goals, and 6 game-winning goals.
The Magic Man has sick hands, and he’s sure to put on a display. If you enjoy watching hockey keep an eye on Datsyuk, he’s sure to dazzle.
The last time these two teams played Jordan Nolan was assessed a game-misconduct for hitting Red Wings forward Darren Helm from behind.
Expect there to be some left over bad blood between the two teams.
That’s ok though, because the Kings thrive on that.
Go Kings Go!
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Oct 31, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Los Angeles Kings left wing Andy Andreoff (15) grabs Detroit Red Wings center Darren Helm (43) during a fight in the third period at Joe Louis Arena. Detroit won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports