Los Angeles Kings Big Game Against Anaheim Ducks to Make-up Ground in Standings Tonight!
Tonight the Los Angeles Kings will take on the Anaheim Ducks in an attempt to make-up some ground in the Pacific Division standings. Puck-drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PST at Honda Center.
The ‘Freeway Face-Off’ will fittingly take place on the second-half of NBC Sports Network’s Rivalry Night.
The Kings enter the game on an up-swing after a tight 1-0 victory over the Arizona Coyotes. L.A. is currently 3rd in the Pacific Division, 14 points behind the 1st place Ducks.
Anaheim’s 95 points tie them with the St. Louis Blues for 1st place in the Western Conference.
Both the Ducks and Blues are tied at 95 points with the Eastern Conference’s two division leaders: the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens. All four teams are trying to stay on top and win the Presidents Trophy.
Anaheim is on a two-game winning streak after beating the Nashville Predators 4-2 on Sunday, and the Minnesota Wild 2-1 on last Friday.
Tonight is the final regular season meeting of the two teams.
In four games against the Ducks this season the Kings are 1-1-2. Three of the games have gone into extra time. Two were won by the Ducks in shootouts. L.A. won one game in overtime, 3-2 on November 15th. The last time the two met was February 27th. The Ducks won 4-2 in Anaheim.
The Kings have yet to win at Honda Center this season. Tonight would be a good time to start.
L.A.’s lineup is expected to be as follows:
Los Angeles Kings
Forwards:
Marian Gaborik – Anze Kopitar – Dustin Brown
Trevor Lewis – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Dwight King – Nick Shore – Justin Williams
Kyle Clifford – Andy Andreoff – Jordan Nolan
Defensemen:
Robyn Regehr – Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin – Matt Greene
Brayden McNabb – Andrej Sekera
Goaltenders:
Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones
Jarret Stoll is still out with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Stoll has missed last game after being injured in the 2-1 loss to Nashville on Saturday. Stoll is not expected to return tonight.
Andy Andreoff will dress in Stoll’s place for the second straight game. Andreoff is expected to center Jordan Nolan and Kyle Clifford on the Kings fourth line.
That bumps rookie call-up Nick Shore up to the third line between Justin Williams and Dwight King. King will help protect Shore with his physical play. Perhaps Williams and Shore can get some chemistry going. Shore was a leading American Hockey League scorer for the Manchester Monarchs prior to being called up to the Kings.
Hopefully Shore can find that same scoring touch in the NHL. The Kings need it.
Shore has yet to find the back of the net in the world’s best and biggest stage.
In 38 games for Manchester Shore had 20 goals and 42 points. In 23 games for the Kings Shore has 5 assists and 5 points.
Jonathan Quick is expected to start against the West’s best. Quick is playing like it’s playoff push time, which means it will be difficult for Anaheim to score tonight.
Ducks players to keep an eye on:
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Oil On Whyte
Corey Perry is quietly about to be a 30-goal scorer. Perry hasn’t been in the news for leading the league this year, but he’s still on a tear. In 56 games Perry has 28 goals, 19 assists, 47 points, +13 plus/minus, and 4 power-play goals.
Perry is a sniper. He can score from anywhere inside the blue-line. It comes as no surprise that Perry is a player the Kings need to watch out for.
Perry missed the first two games of the Kings-Ducks series this year. In the last two Perry has 3 points: 2 goals on February 27th, and 1 assist on January 17th.
John Gibson is expected to be the starter in goal for the Ducks. Gibson is 11-6 in 17 starts this season with a 2.51 goals against average and a .919 save percentage. Gibson is 1-0 against the Kings this season.
The big 21-year-old goaltender is coming into his own and helping the Ducks trounce the rest of the NHL. The Kings need to set up screens and get Gibson moving from side to side to get the puck past him.
This is going to be a tight game.
It’s going to be some great hockey. If you want to teach your kids proper hockey make sure they watch the game with you tonight.
Kings-Ducks, it’s the rivalry we live for.
Go Kings Go!
Jan 17, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf (15) and Los Angeles Kings center Jeff Carter (77) face off in the first period of the game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports