Game 74 Preview: Los Angeles at Pittsburgh

Los Angeles Kings (42-25-6) at Pittsburgh Penguins (46-21-5)
Thursday, March 27, 2014, 4:00 p.m. PT
Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Referees: #40 Steve Kozari, #12 Justin St. Pierre
Linesmen: #68 Scott Driscoll #98 John Grandt
Fox Sports West, KRLA 870 AM
Kings Weekly to follow tonight’s game

A preview:

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Martin Jones
2013-14 Season: 16 GP (15 GS) / 10-5-0 record / 1.90 GAA / .932 Sv% / 3 SHO
Career vs Pittsburgh: 1 (0) / 0-0-0 / 1.50 / .933 / 0
Last Game vs Pittsburgh: 1/30/14 / 40 MP / 14-15 shots / 1-4 L (ND)
2013-14, Away: 9 (9) / 6-3-0 / 2.22 / .930 / 1

Pittsburgh Projected Starting Goaltender – Jeff Zatkoff
2013-14 Season: 17 GP (15 GS) / 12-4-1 record / 2.55 GAA / .916 Sv% / 1 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 1 (1) / 1-0-0 / 1.00 / .968 / 0
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 1/30/14 / 60 MP / 30-31 shots / 4-1 W
2013-14, Home: 7 (5) / 5-2-0 / 2.47 / .909 / 0

2013-14 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (22-37=59)
Goals: Jeff Carter (25-21=46)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (22-37=59)
Plus/Minus: Anze Kopitar (+27; 22-37=59)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (79; 3-4=7)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (25:59; 8-27=35)

2013-14 Pittsburgh Leaders
Total Points: Sidney Crosby (34-61=95)
Goals: Sidney Crosby (34-61=95)
Assists: Sidney Crosby (34-61=95)
Plus/Minus: Matt Niskanen (+31; 10-31=41)
Penalty Minutes: Tanner Glass (81; 4-8=12)
Time On Ice: Paul Martin (24:23; 2-10=12)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – t-27 / 2.38; PIT – 5 / 3.04
Goals Against/Game: LAK – t-1 / 2.07; PIT – t-9 / 2.47
Power Play: LAK – t-25 / 15.1%; PIT – 1 / 24.4%
Penalty Kill: LAK – t-11 / 83.0%; PIT – 2 / 85.8%
Shots/Game: LAK – t-7 / 31.6; PIT – 14 / 30.1
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 3 / 26.4; PIT – t-10 / 28.8
Faceoffs: LAK – 2 / 52.9%; PIT – t-9 / 51.2%
Save Percentage: LAK – 2 / .922; PIT – 12 / .914

Rob Scuderi, on facing the Kings:

Los Angeles Projected Lines

Marian Gaborik – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams
Tyler Toffoli – Mike Richards – Jeff Carter
Tanner Pearson – Jarret Stoll – Dustin Brown
Kyle Clifford – Trevor Lewis – Jordan Nolan

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

Martin Jones
Jonathan Quick

Level of confidence in projected lines: A. As noted on Twitter earlier, Dwight King will miss tonight’s game due to personal reasons. The above lines represent the line rushes used at today’s morning skate. Martin Jones left the ice first and is projected as tonight’s starting goalie.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 70-58-21 all-time against Pittsburgh, a record that includes an away mark of 25-40-11. The Kings have lost three straight (0-2-1) in Pittsburgh, dating back to February 9, 2008, and have visited the Consol Energy Center only once, a 2-1 overtime setback on February 10, 2011. … The Kings have won seven consecutive road games since a 3-0 loss at Phoenix on January 28 and are looking to tie the franchise record of eight consecutive road wins, set between December 18, 1974 and January 16, 1975. The franchise record for the longest consecutive point streak is 11 games, set between October 10, 1974 and December 11, 1974. … Los Angeles is 20-8-3 against the Eastern Conference and 10-4-1 against the Metropolitan Division. … The Kings’ +5.2 shot on goal differential ranks third in the league, trailing only San Jose (+7.2) and Chicago (+6.1). … 1967 expansion teams Los Angeles and Pittsburgh will meet for the 150th time in NHL history tonight. … Anze Kopitar has 16 points (6-10=16) in the last 16 games. He has 195 career goals, tied with Dustin Brown for eighth place on the team’s all-time goal scoring list. … Alec Martinez has 10 points (6-4=10) in the last 12 games. … Drew Doughty hasn’t scored since registering a power play goal in a 5-3 home loss to Chicago on February 3. Since then, he has recorded one power play point, an assist against Toronto on March 13. … With 162 career assists, Doughty is one assist behind Marty McSorley for fifth place amongst defensemen on the team’s all-time list. … Willie Mitchell is scheduled to play his 199th game as a member of the Kings. … Los Angeles has won 1,497 games in franchise history. … Jake Muzzin was drafted in the fifth round of the 2007 NHL Draft by Pittsburgh but did not sign.

Pittsburgh Projected Lines

Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – Lee Stempniak
James Neal – Brandon Sutter – Jussi Jokinen
Taylor Pyatt – Marcel Goc – Brian Gibbons
Tanner Glass – Craig Adams – Jayson Megna

Olli Maatta – Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik – Robert Bortuzzo
Simon Despres – Rob Scuderi

Jeff Zatkoff
Marc-Andre Fleury

Notes and milestones: Pittsburgh’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot is one point. … The Penguins are 33-3-1 when scoring first. … Pittsburgh has lost 447 man-games to injury this season, the highest total in the league. … The Penguins, who play tomorrow night in Columbus, are 9-4-1 on the first night of back-to-back games. … Pittsburgh is 4-1-0 against California teams and 9-3-1 against the Pacific Division. … With 1.08 points per game, James Neal leads all NHL wingers in the statistic. … Sidney Crosby leads the league with 95 points and 61 assists, while his 36 power play points rank second. He needs five points to record 100 for the first time since 2009-10. … With 99 career assists, Craig Adams is one assist shy of 100. He is scheduled to play in his 279th consecutive game tonight. … Defenseman Matt Niskanen has set career highs in goals (10), assists (31) and points (41). His plus-31 rating ranks fifth in the league.