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Los Angeles Kings Projected Lineup
Dustin Brown – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams
Dustin Penner – Mike Richards – Jarret Stoll
Brad Richardson – Andrei Loktionov – Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford – Colin Fraser – Kevin Westgarth
Jonathan BernierNews & Notes: Jonathan Bernier will be in net for the second time in the last week. The Kings backup is back in action after he made 22 saves against the Washington Capitals on January 9th in a 5-2 Kings win. This is the second meeting of the season between the Kings and Oilers, the Oilers won the first tilt in LA 3-0. The Kings have won 5 straight games on Edmonton ice. Interesting: Kings center Jarret Stoll picked the Calgary Flames puck up after a 4-1 Kings win, and gave it to coach Darryl Sutter. Sutter spent 8 years as part of the Flames organization coaching and managing the team, a team he coached to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004. Although the win, he insists it is not that important to him:
"It’s interesting that you guys [reporters] keep talking about it. Our concept, and our mindset, is always about the team first. That stuff really doesn’t mean much to me. -via LA Kings Insider Rich Hammond"
Edmonton Oilers
Projected Lineup
Nikolai KhabibulinNews & Notes: The Oilers have lost 17 of the last 21 games, including a 5-0 loss to Anaheim on Friday. During starting goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin’s 6 game losing streak, he has a Goals-Against-Average of 4.06. Two of the teams leading goal scorers, young stars Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent Hopkins are out of action due to injury. The team has been hurting due to their missing offensive output (only 3 goals in the last 3 games). Oilers coach Tom Renny told the Associated Press that he feels the effort has not been there from the Oilers as of late:
"The thing I don’t like is that I don’t see ice bags and guys sore from really gutting it out and doing everything they possibly can to win a hockey game. -Tom Renny"
*** Oppositon Blog: Oil On Whyte ***
Matchup Thoughts: The Kings look to have a lot of momentum coming into tonight’s game, but they need to play with the same intensity as they did last night in Calgary to get another road win. Even though the Oilers are struggling mightily (only 3 wins in the last 17 games) the Kings can not play down to the Oilers. Not allowing the Oilers young forwards speed through the neutral zone and time and space in the offensive zone will be key to getting a win tonight. Also, the play of Jonathan Bernier will be another deciding factor into tonight’s game. The last game he started against the Capitals, he looked just OK. Not great, not bad.
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