Game 16 Preview: Buffalo at Los Angeles

Los Angeles Kings (9-6-0) vs Buffalo Sabres (3-13-1)
Thursday, November 7, 2013, 7:30 p.m. PT
STAPLES Center
Referees: #37 Kyle Rehman, #5 Chris Rooney
Linesmen: #93 Brian Murphy, #91 Don Henderson
FOX Sports West, KTLK 1150 AM
Kings Weekly to follow tonight’s game

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2013-14 Season: 13 GP (13 GS) / 8-5-0 record / 2.68 GAA / .896 Sv% / 0 SHO
Career vs Buffalo: 3 (2) / 2-0-0 / 2.54 / .889 / 0
Last Game vs Buffalo: 1/21/10 / 65 MP / 26-29 shots + 2/3 / 4-3 SOW
2013-14, Home: 8 (8) / 5-3-0 / 2.84 / .879 / 0

Buffalo Projected Starting Goaltender – Jhonas Enroth
2013-14 Season: 5 GP (5 GS) / 1-3-1 record / 2.99 GAA / .907 Sv% / 0 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: First appearance
Last Game vs Los Angeles: First appearance
2013-14, Away: 2 (2) / 1-1-0 / 2.00 / .949 / 0

2013-14 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (3-12=15)
Goals: Justin Williams (5-6=11), Jeff Carter (5-4=9)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (3-12=15)
Plus/Minus: Matt Greene (+5; 2-1=3)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (32; 1-0=1)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (25:43; 4-3=7)

2013-14 Buffalo Leaders
Total Points: Matt Moulson (8-7=15)*
Goals: Matt Moulson (8-7=15)**
Assists: Cody Hodgson (5-8=13)
Plus/Minus: Matt Moulson (+1; 8-7=15)***
Penalty Minutes: Cody McCormick (32; 1-2=3)
Time On Ice: Christian Ehrhoff (24:35; 0-4=4)
*Includes Matt Moulson’s New York Islanders stats. Cody Hodgson’s 13 points are the most points recorded by a player while in a Buffalo jersey.
**Includes Matt Moulson’s New York Islanders stats. Cody Hodgson’s five goals are the most goals scored by a player while in a Buffalo jersey.
*** Includes Matt Moulson’s New York Islanders stats. Zemgus Girgensons’ even rating and Alexander Sulzer’s even rating are the highest ratings by players while in a Buffalo jersey.

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – 18 / 2.60; BUF – 29 / 1.71
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 14 / 2.67; BUF – 26 / 3.12
Power Play: LAK – t-8 / 21.0%; BUF – 23 / 13.7%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 21 / 79.4%; BUF – 12 / 84.2%
Shots/Game: LAK – 4 / 32.9; BUF – 29 / 25.5
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 5 / 26.2; BUF – 28 / 36.4
Faceoffs: LAK – 2 / 55.8%; BUF – 28 / 44.8%
Save Percentage: LAK – 25 / .898; BUF – 11 / .914

Los Angeles Projected Lines

Dustin Brown – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams
Dwight King – Mike Richards – Tyler Toffoli
Daniel Carcillo – Trevor Lewis – Matt Frattin
Kyle Clifford – Linden Vey – Jordan Nolan

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Robyn Regehr – Slava Voynov
Willie Mitchell – Alec Martinez

Jonathan Quick
Ben Scrivens

Level of confidence in projected lines: A. Colin Fraser may dress for warm-ups, but because he stayed on the ice for extra work following today’s morning skate, it’s likely that he’ll be out of the lineup and Linden Vey will make his NHL debut. Jarret Stoll remains day-to-day but skated alone following today’s morning skate. Matt Greene is out. Jeff Carter is on injured reserve.

Notes and milestones: The Kings are 40-55-18 all-time against the Sabres, which includes a record of 24-24-9 at home. Though Los Angeles is 1-9-0 in the last 10 road games against Buffalo, they are 7-2-1 in the last 10 home games. The Kings are 2-6-0 in the last eight overall meetings against the Sabres. Because the teams’ meeting in Berlin, Germany on October 8, 2011 was designated as a Kings home game, Buffalo has not visited STAPLES Center since January 21, 2010. … The Kings have won more faceoffs than their opponent in each of the last seven games and are 266-for-463 (57.5%) over that span. Overall, the team ranks second in the league with a 55.8% success rate. … Since killing off 14 consecutive power plays, the Kings’ penalty kill has allowed at least one goal in each of its last six games, going 17-for-26 (65.4%) over that span. … The Kings have recorded at least 30 shots on goal in 11 of 15 games this season and have out-shot their opponents in 13 of 15 games. … Anze Kopitar has 10 points (3-7=10) in the last seven games. … Justin Williams has nine points (3-6=9) in the last seven games. … Mike Richards has six points (3-3=6) in the last six games. … Drew Doughty (3-3=6) has six points in the last seven games. … Dustin Brown (184 career goals) is two goals behind Jim Fox (186 career goals) for ninth place overall in the team’s all-time goal scoring standings. … Jonathan Quick is expected to play in his 300th career game tonight. Quick made his NHL debut against Buffalo on December 7, 2007 and stopped 15-of-17 shots in an 8-2 Los Angeles win. Tom Preissing had two goals as part of a three-point night. … Robyn Regehr played for the Sabres from 2011-13, tallying seven points (1-6=7) and 77 penalty minutes in 105 games. … The Kings have sold out 76 consecutive regular season and playoff games, a club record.

Buffalo Projected Lines

Matt Moulson – Cody Hodgson – Tyler Ennis
Steve Ott – Marcus Foligno – Corey Tropp
Zemgus Girgensons – Johan Larsson – Brian Flynn
Ville Leino – Cody McCormick – Drew Stafford

Christian Ehrhoff – Mark Pysyk
Henrik Tallinder – Tyler Myers
Jamie McBain – Rasmus Ristolainen.

Jhonas Enroth
Ryan Miller

Notes and milestones: Lines via John Vogl of the Buffalo News. … Buffalo has not faced Los Angeles in a regular season game since October 8, 2011. The Sabres and Kings have not met twice in one season since 2003-04. The teams will also meet at the First Niagara Center on Tuesday night. … Matt Moulson has 14 points (7-7=14) in his last 10 games. Entering tonight’s games, Moulson ranks ninth among active NHL players with 120 goals since the beginning of the 2009-10 season. He recorded 10 points (6-4=10) in 29 games with Los Angeles from 2007-09. … Drew Stafford has five points (3-2=5) in four career games against the Kings. … The Sabres are 1-2-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets this season. They’ll play in Anaheim on Friday night. … Buffalo is the first NHL team since 1995-96 to dress four teenagers over the course of the season (Zemgus Girgensons, Mikhail Grigorenko, Rasmus Ristolainen, Nikita Zadorov). In 1995-96 Buffalo and Florida dressed four teenagers, while Winnipeg dressed six. … Drew Stafford played with Matt Greene at the University of North Dakota for two seasons. … Drew Doughty (2 / LA), Cody Hodgson (10 / VAN), Tyler Myers (12 / BUF) and Tyler Ennis (26 / BUF) were all selected in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. … Coach Ron Rolston coached Willie Mitchell at Clarkson University from 1997-99. … Rasmus Ristalainen was a teammate of Alec Martinez’s with TPS Turku of Finland’s SM-liiga during the 2012-13 NHL lockout.