Tonight the Los Angeles Kings will square-off against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Staples Center. Puck-drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. PST.
The Kings enter the game on a two-game win streak. After whomping Edmonton 5-2 the Kings defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in a shootout.
The Kings are in a desperate race to keep up in the playoff race. L.A. is currently 4th in the Pacific Division and 9th in the Western Conference with 74 points.
The Penguins are in a race of their own. Pittsburgh is hanging on to 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division and 6th in the Eastern Conference.
Pittsburgh is on a one-game win streak after downing the Duck 5-2 in Anaheim. Like most East coast teams the Penguins are on a tour of California. Tonight’s the Kings, next it’s the San Jose Sharks. Hopefully Pittsburgh is back on a one-game losing streak after tonight.
Tonight should be a great game between two of the NHL’s power-houses. Tonight’s game could even be a preview of the Stanley Cup Finals . . . thought we may be getting a tad bit ahead of ourselves.
L.A.’s lineup is predicted to be as follows:
Los Angeles Kings
Forwards:
Marian Gaborik – Anze Kopitar – Trevor Lewis
Dwight King – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Dustin Brown – Jarret Stoll – Justin Williams
Kyle Clifford – Nick Shore – Jordan Nolan
Defensemen:
Robyn Regehr – Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin – Matt Greene
Brayden McNabb – Andrej Sekera
Goaltenders:
Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones
Quick should be your starter. Quick has stood on his head recently for the Kings, allowing 10 goals in his last 5 games. A period that included 1 shutout. In his last 10 games Quick is 8-2, a stretch that goes back to the King 8 game win streak.
Quick is going to need to stand on his head if L.A. wants to come away with 2 points in this one. Pittsburgh has fire-power and they are going to bring it.
The Gaborik – Kopitar – Lewis line has looked good this season. Take it from Orange County Register writer Rich Hammond who tweeted this after Thursday night’s game:
Trevor Lewis played a season-high 18:05 last night. Kings have 8-1 record with line of Gaborik-Kopitar-Lewis
— Rich Hammond (@Rich_Hammond) March 6, 2015
Lewis puts in the hard work in the corners forcing turnover and getting the puck to the two scoring stars that makeup the Kings Deadly Duo: Kopitar and Gaborik.
Gaborik has been en fuego.
In his last two games Gabby has 2 goals and 1 assist for 3 points. Gaborik is now tied for 2nd in goals on the Kings with 19, and he’s 5th on the team in points with 36.
Penguins to keep an eye on:
Shocker! Spoiler-alert! You guessed it . . . Sidney Crosby.
The most media loved player in the world.
Sid the kid is known as the best hockey player in the world. Sid’s almost the best player on his team. Crosby currently has 21 goals, 45 assists, and 66 points with a +5 plus/minus rating, and 1 power-play goal. So he’s actually not the player to watch out for. Despite what the media, all the moron pundits, commentators and Cole Harbor residents will tell you Sid is not the best.
Sid’s teammate Evgeni Malkin is a player to watch. Some of Malkin’s moves are already legendary.
Malkin isn’t gifted phantom assists like Crosby. Yet, ‘Geno’ as he is better known by his teammates, leads the Penguins in goals, points, and power-play goals.
Not bad eh?
Pens Labyrinth
Malkin has 28 goals, 39 assists, 67 points, a +6 rating, and 9 power-play goals in 59 games. Malkin is big, doesn’t mind being hit, is one of the strongest players on the puck in the world, and clearly he can score.
Patric Hornqvist was hot early in the season. Now no one mentions his name. He is quietly a 20-goal scorer with 21 on the season, 6 of which came on the power-play.
Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury leads the NHL with 8 shutouts. Fleury has a goals against average of 2.21 and a save percentage of .923. Fleury can slam the door shut and stand tall, or he can disappear in big games. Word around the NHL is he’s seeing a sports psychologist to help him with his phobia of big games, and his consistency.
It will be interesting to see if Fleury shows up to this matchup.
The last time these teams played Pittsburgh blanked L.A. 3-0; that was on October 30th. Tonight is the second and final time the two teams will play this season. Well, during the regular season at least . . .
Game time’s in an hour, and the team is unveiling Luc Robitille’s statue! Tune in, and as always . . .
Go Kings Go!
Next: Slava Voynov's Trial is To Be Continued
Oct 30, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) skates with the puck between Los Angeles Kings defenseman Matt Greene (2) and left wing Tanner Pearson (70) and center Jeff Carter (77) during the second period at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports