Kings dealing with centers of attention

The regular-season offensive numbers suggested a clear mismatch. San Jose’s top three centers each reached the 20-goal and 55-point plateaus this season, as Joe Thornton had 21 goals and 49 assists, Logan Couture had 32 goals and 24 assists and Joe Pavelski had 20 goals and 46. The Kings, minus Anze Kopitar, lined up with Jarret Stoll (20 goals, 23 assists), Michal Handzus (12 goals, 18 assists) and Brad Richardson (seven goals, 12 assists). Combined, that’s 192 regular-season points for the Sharks’ centers and 92 points for the Kings’ centers. Of course, offense is only half of the game. The Kings’ centers have been strong defensively, and while Pavelski got the overtime goal in Game 1, the Kings’ ability to play well against the Sharks’ centers was a big factor in the fact that the Kings were able to come away with a split in San Jose. Jarret Stoll and Terry Murray talked about the center matchup today, and the importance of the Kings being able to play well against the Sharks’ centers…

STOLL: “Definitely their top three guys have all scored close to 20 goals this year, I think. They put up a lot of offense, big, key members of their team. They’ve definitely got some skill and they can do some damage. They can skate with the puck, they’re fast. We’ve just got to do a good job in the faceoff circle and get possession of the puck. They do a lot of work on possession, too. They’re very similar to Detroit in that respect. They’re got on the dot, and puck possession is everything.”

MURRAY: “On the checking part of the game, our center icemen have done a very good job. You’re not going to eliminate the opportunities that Thornton, in particular, is going to create, because he’s such a powerful and a top-end player. But if you keep proper body positioning on him, try to stay over top of him, limit his speed, his time of possession, and limit the plays that he’s trying to make, with good stick and home-plate attitude, you’re going to give yourself an opportunity to get the job done. Again, he’s going to make some plays because of who he is. You’re just trying to cut back on those numbers of quality chances.”