Game 48 Preview: Los Angeles at St. Louis

Los Angeles Kings (28-14-5) at St. Louis Blues (32-8-5)
Thursday, January 16, 2014, 7:00 p.m. CT
Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO
Referees: #23 Brad Watson, #6 Francois Charron
Linesmen: #57 Jay Sharrers, #56 Mark Wheler
NBC Sports Network, KEIB 1150 AM
Kings Weekly follows tonight’s game on FOX Sports West

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2013-14 Season: 21 GP (21 GS) / 13-6-1 record / 2.12 GAA / .914 Sv% / 2 SHO
Career vs St. Louis: 14 (13) / 5-8-1 / 2.37 / .914 / 2
Last Game vs St. Louis: 3/28/13 / 60 MP / 20-22 shots / 4-2 W
2013-14, Away: 6 (6) / 3-2-0 / 2.29 / .915 / 0

St. Louis Projected Starting Goaltender – Jaroslav Halak
2013-14 Season: 30 GP (29 GS) / 19-6-3 record / 2.27 GAA / .912 Sv% / 3 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 11 (11) / 6-5-0 / 2.31 / .915 / 2
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 12/2/13 / 59 MP / 20-23 shots / 2-3 L
2013-14, Home: 17 (17) / 11-3-2 / 2.37 / .905 / 2

2013-14 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (13-25=38)
Goals: Jeff Carter (16-13=29)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (13-25=38)
Plus/Minus: Anze Kopitar (+23; 13-25=38)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (58; 3-2=5)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (25:49; 7-17=24)

2013-14 St. Louis Leaders
Total Points: T.J. Oshie (10-29=39)
Goals: Alexander Steen (24-14=38)*
Assists: T.J. Oshie (10-29=39)
Plus/Minus: Jaden Schwartz (+25; 15-17=32)
Penalty Minutes: Chris Stewart (79; 15-9=24)
Time On Ice: Alex Pietrangelo (25:28; 6-27=33)
*Amongst active players, David Backes (17-18=35) leads the team in goals.

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – 22 / 2.43; STL – t-1 / 3.53
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 1 / 1.98; STL – 3 / 2.18
Power Play: LAK – t-25 / 14.6%; STL – t-1 / 24.7%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 8 / 84.7%; STL – 5 / 85.3%
Shots/Game: LAK – t-7 / 31.6; STL – 20 / 29.3
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 3 / 27.1; STL – 2 / 25.8
Faceoffs: LAK – 2 / 53.5%; STL – t-12 / 51.2%
Save Percentage: LAK – 1 / .927; STL – t-8 / .916

Los Angeles Projected Lineup
Dustin Brown – Anze Kopitar – Jeff Carter
Matt Frattin – Mike Richards – Justin Williams
Dwight King – Jarret Stoll – Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford – Colin Fraser – Jordan Nolan

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

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: B+. The team didn’t hold line rushes at the morning skate, so the above lines reflect the groupings from Wednesday’s practice. Linden Vey and Tanner Pearson remained on the ice with Martin Jones following the morning skate, so they’re likely scratched. The defensive pairs are likely to be adjusted as the game progresses. Quick will start.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 70-95-24 all-time against St. Louis, a record that includes a 25-59-11 mark on the road. The Kings are 7-2-0 in the last nine regular season meetings and 15-4-0 in the last 19 overall meetings between the teams. After splitting the first two head-to-head matchups, this is the final regular season meeting between the teams. … Los Angeles is 5-8-2 against the Central Division and 23-6-3 against all other teams. … The Kings’ penalty kill has killed off 16 consecutive power plays, facing a total of 26 shots over that 30:26 span. The last player to notch a power play goal against the Kings was Vancouver’s Ryan Kesler, who opened the scoring in a 3-1 Los Angeles win on January 4. … The Kings’ power play has two goals on its last 28 chances. … Jeff Carter has 17 points (9-8=17) in the last 16 games and 30 shots in the last five games. … Since scoring in Los Angeles’ 3-2 overtime win at Vancouver on November 25, Mike Richards has gone 22 consecutive games without scoring a goal. He has two points (0-2=2) over the last 15 games. … Dustin Brown has three goals in his last five games. … Since returning, Jonathan Quick is 3-1-1 with a 1.39 GAA, .942 Sv% and a shutout, having stopped 114 of 121 shots.

St. Louis Projected Lines

Jaden Schwartz – David Backes – T.J. Oshie
Dmitrij Jaskin – Vladimir Sobotka – Vladimir Tarasenko
Magnus Paajarvi – Patrik Berglund – Chris Stewart
Brenden Morrow – Derek Roy – Ryan Reaves

Jay Bouwmeester – Alex Pietrangelo
Barret Jackman – Kevin Shattenkirk
Jordan Leopold – Roman Polak

Jaroslav Halak
Brian Elliott

Notes and milestones: Lines via Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. … St. Louis is 6-6-3 against the Pacific Division and 26-2-1 against the rest of the league. They are 5-1-1 in their last seven games against Pacific Division teams. … The Blues have won five straight games at the Scottrade Center and are 18-3-2 overall at home. … St. Louis has allowed two or fewer goals in eight consecutive games. … The Blues are 27-1-3 when scoring the first goal. … Though St. Louis’ penalty kill ranks fifth in the league overall, their 81.7% rate at home ranks 20th. … Since January 2, the Blues are averaging four goals per game. … St. Louis is looking to win consecutive regular season games against Los Angeles for the first time since winning seven straight from December 5, 2009 to March 17, 2011. … Alex Pietrangelo has a season-high six-game point streak (3-5=8), tied with the Rangers’ Brad Richards for the longest active streak in the league. … Vladimir Tarasenko has goals in three straight games against the Kings. … Hadeb Schwartz has recorded an even or plus rating for 23 straight games. … 10 Blues will represent their countries at the Olympics. David Backes, Kevin Shattenkirk and T.J. Oshie will represent the United States, Jay Bouwmeester and Alex Pietrangelo will represent Canada, Patrik Berglund and Alexander Steen will represent Sweden, Vladimir Tarasenko will represent Russia, Vladimir Sobotka will represent the Czech Republic, and Jaroslav Halak will represent Slovakia. … St. Louis leads the league with a 1.61 five-on-five goals for/against ratio. … The Blues will play their 3,600th franchise game tonight.