Game 1 Preview: New York at Los Angeles

(3) Los Angeles Kings (12-9) vs (2) New York Rangers (12-8)
Wednesday, June 4, 2014, 5:00 p.m. PT
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #40 Steve Kozari, #23 Brad Watson
Linesmen: #55 Shane Heyer, #68 Scott Driscoll
NBC, CBC, RDS, KEIB 1150 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2013-14 Playoffs: 21 GP (21 GS) /12-9 record / 2.86 GAA / .906 Sv% / 1 SHO
Career, Playoffs: 71 (71) / 41-30 / 2.27 / .922 / 8
2013-14 Playoffs, Home: 9 (9) / 5-4 / 2.74 / .903 / 0

New York Projected Starting Goaltender – Henrik Lundqvist
2013-14 Playoffs: 20 GP (20 GS) / 12-7 record / 2.03 GAA / .928 Sv% / 1 SHO
Career, Playoffs: 87 (87) / 42-44 / 2.23 / .922 / 9
2013-14 Playoffs, Away: 10 (10) / 6-4 / 2.18 / .933 / 0

2013-14 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (5-19=24)
Goals: Marian Gaborik (12-7=19)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (5-19=24)
Plus/Minus: Justin Williams (+11; 7-11=18)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (37; 0-3=3)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (27:50; 4-12=16)

2013-14 New York Leaders
Total Points: Martin St. Louis (6-7=13), Derek Stepan (5-8=13), Ryan McDonagh (3-10=13)
Goals: Martin St. Louis (6-7=13), Carl Hagelin (6-4=10)
Assists: Ryan McDonagh (3-10=13)
Plus/Minus: Kevin Klein (+7; 1-3=4)
Penalty Minutes: Daniel Carcillo (22; 2-0=2)
Time On Ice: Ryan McDonagh (25:11; 3-10=13)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – 1 / 3.48; NYR – 8 / 2.70
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 9 / 2.86; NYR – 2 / 2.25
Power Play: LAK – 5 / 25.4%; NYR – 10 / 13.6%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 9 / 81.2%; NYR – 2 / 85.9%
Shots/Game: LAK – 6 / 30.7; NYR – 10 / 29.4
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 7 / 30.3; NYR – 3 / 28.0
Faceoffs: LAK – 2 / 52.9%; NYR – 12 / 47.5%
Save Percentage: LAK – t-8 / .906; NYR – 2 / .920

Los Angeles Projected Lines

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

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Willie Mitchell – Slava Voynov
Alec Martinez – Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: B+. Today’s morning skate was optional, though it’s expected that no changes from the Game 7 lineup against Chicago will take place. Robyn Regehr, who deemed himself “ready,” is one of the options at Darryl Sutter’s disposal but isn’t expected to play in Game 1.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 106-135 all-time in the playoffs, a record that includes a home mark of 59-55. The Kings are 1-5 all-time against the Rangers in the playoffs (1-2 home, 0-3 road). … Los Angeles is 18-28 all-time in Game 1s. When winning Game 1, the Kings have won 12 of 18 series. When losing Game 1, they have won eight of 28 series. Los Angeles is 1-2 in Game 1s this postseason. … The Kings are playing in the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in team history. In 1993 they lost in five games to Montreal, and in 2012 they defeated New Jersey in six games. … The Kings have scored in 15 of the last 17 regulation periods. … Dating back to 2012, Los Angeles is now 9-1 in their last 10 playoff series. … This is the second time in the last 23 series in which the Kings have held home ice advantage. In a second round series against San Jose last season, they advanced in seven games. … Los Angeles has played 59 playoff games since 2012, the most in the NHL. … The Kings lead all NHL teams with an average of 3.48 goals per game in the postseason. … With 24 points (5-19=24), Anze Kopitar trails Wayne Gretzky’s 40 points and Tomas Sandstrom’s 25 points in 1993 on the list of the highest scoring postseasons in Kings history. … Marian Gaborik leads the Kings with 12 playoff goals. Only Wayne Gretzky (15 goals in 1993) has scored more goals in a single postseason in Kings history. Gaborik has 19 points (12-7=19) in the last 19 games. … Jeff Carter has 13 points (6-7=13) in the last eight games. … Tyler Toffoli’s seven goals is a Kings rookie record, while his 13 points ties Warren Rychel (1993) and Daryl Evans (1982) for a rookie record. … Los Angeles is the first team in NHL history to make the Stanley Cup Final after playing the maximum 21 games throughout the conference playoffs.

New York Projected Lineup

Chris Kreider – Derek Stepan – Rick Nash
Carl Hagelin – Brad Richards – Martin St. Louis
Benoit Pouliot – Derick Brassard – Mats Zuccarello
Brian Boyle – Dominic Moore – Derek Dorsett

Ryan McDonagh – Dan Girardi
Marc Staal – Anton Stralman
Raphael Diaz – Kevin Klein

Henrik Lundqvist
David Leneveu

Notes and milestones: New York is 225-241-8 all-time in the playoffs, a record that includes a 99-148-6 mark on the road. … The Rangers are one of four teams, along with Detroit, Pittsburgh and San Jose, to make the playoffs in eight of the last nine years. … This is New York’s 11th Stanley Cup Final appearance and first since 1994, when they defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games. They are 4-6 in their 10 previous appearances and 22-28 all-time in Stanley Cup Final games. … The Rangers have allowed two goals or less in five of their last seven meetings with the Kings, and in four of their last six games in Los Angeles. … New York was 25-14-2 on the road in the regular season and is 6-4 on the road in the playoffs. … Henrik Lundqvist is 3-4-1 with a 2.47 goals-against average and .916 save percentage in eight career games against the Kings. He is the third goalie in NHL history to start at least 80 consecutive playoff games with one team (Martin Brodeur – New Jersey, Patrick Roy – Colorado) and has started a franchise-record 86 playoff games with New York. … Brad Richards has 29 points (9-20=29) in 26 career games against Los Angeles. … Martin St. Louis has 15 points (6-9=15) in 15 career games against the Kings. … Brian Boyle recorded 10 points (8-2=10) in 36 games with Los Angeles in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. … Daniel Carcillo recorded two points (1-1=2) in 26 games with the Kings in 2013-14. … Ryan McDonagh led all skaters with eight assists and 10 points in the Eastern Conference Final. He was the first Ranger to tally at least 10 points in a playoff series since Brian Leetch’s 11-point effort in the 1994 Stanley Cup Final. … Dan Girardi is tied with Ron Greschner for third place on the team’s all-time playoff games played list with 84 playoff games. By playing tonight, he’ll tie Don Maloney for second place on the team’s all-time playoff games played list. … 20 years ago today, Brian Leetch scored twice and Mike Richter stopped 24 of 25 shots as the Rangers defeated the Canucks 5-1 in Game 3 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final.