Game 5 Preview: Los Angeles vs St. Louis

Los Angeles Kings (2-1-1) vs St. Louis Blues (1-1-0)
Thursday, October 16, 2014, 7:30 p.m. PT
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #27 Eric Furlatt, #43 Tom Chmielewski
Linesmen: #91 Don Henderson, #66 Darren Gibbs
FOX Sports West, KABC 790 AM
Kings Weekly premieres after tonight’s game

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2014-15: 3 GP (3 GS) / 1-1-1 record / 2.91 GAA / .919 Sv% / 0 SHO
Career vs St. Louis: 15 (14) / 6-8-1 / 2.28 / .918 / 2
Last Game vs St. Louis: 1/16/14 / 60 MP / 28-29 shots / 4-1 W
2014-15, Home: 2 (2) / 1-1-0 / 3.00 / .915 / 0

St. Louis Projected Starting Goaltender – Brian Elliott
2014-15: 2 GP (2 GS) / 1-1-0 record / 2.02 GAA / .918 Sv% / 0 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 8 (6) / 1-4-1 / 2.58 / .913 / 2
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 1/2/14 / 60 MP / 30-30 shots / 5-0 W
2014-15, Away: No stats

2014-15 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Tanner Pearson (4-2=6)
Goals: Tanner Pearson (4-2=6)
Assists: Tyler Toffoli (2-3=5)
Plus/Minus: Jeff Carter (+8; 3-2=5), Tyler Toffoli (+8; 2-3=5)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (12; 0-0=0)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (25:54; 0-2=2)
Corsi-For Percentage: Justin Williams (60.0%; 1-0=1)

2014-15 St. Louis Leaders
Total Points: Paul Stastny (1-3=4)
Goals: Six players tied with 1 goal
Assists: Paul Stastny (1-3=4), Kevin Shattenkirk (0-3=3)
Plus/Minus: Kevin Shattenkirk (+2; 0-3=3), Vladimir Tarasenko (+2; 1-1=2), Jay Bouwmeester (+2; 0-0=0)
Penalty Minutes: T.J. Oshie (7; 0-0=0)
Time On Ice: Alex Pietrangelo (24:46; 1-1=2)
Corsi-For Percentage: David Backes (69.6%; 1-1=2)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – t-13 / 3.00; STL – t-13 / 3.00
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 12 / 2.25; STL – t-6 / 2.00
Power Play: LAK – 24 / 7.1%; STL – 13 / 20.0%
Penalty Kill: LAK – t-22 / 76.9%; STL – 11 / 88.9%
Shots/Game: LAK – t-15 / 29.2; STL – t-10 / 32.0
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 25 / 33.0; STL – 5 / 24.5
Faceoffs: LAK – t-19 / 48.9%; STL – 3 / 55.2%
Save Percentage: LAK – 5 / .932; STL – 13 / .918
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – 17 / 50.7%; STL – 3 / 57.1%

Los Angeles Projected Lines

Mike Richards – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams
Tanner Pearson – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Dwight King – Jarret Stoll – Dustin Brown
Kyle Clifford – Andy Andreoff – Jordan Nolan

Brayden McNabb – Drew Doughty
Robyn Regehr – Slava Voynov
Alec Martinez – Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: A. The Kings are down to 20 healthy players, and they were all on the ice this morning. Jonathan Quick left the ice first at the morning skate; he’ll start in goal.

Notes and milestones: The Kings are 71-95-24 all-time against the Blues, a record that includes a home mark of 45-36-13. Los Angeles has won the season series against St. Louis in each of the last three seasons and including playoff games are 16-4-0 in the teams’ last 20 meetings. These teams will continue the series at Scottrade Center on December 16 and Staples Center on December 18. … The Kings are 2-0-0 in their six-game homestand (10/12 LAK 4, WPG 1; 10/14 LAK 6, EDM 1; 10/16 STL; 10/19 MIN; 10/23 BUF; 10/26 CBJ). Los Angeles’ longest homestand of the season is seven games long, taking place between January 3 and 19, 2015. … The Kings lead the league in team hits (131). … Tyler Toffoli has multi-point efforts in two straight games, goals in two straight games and a three-game point streak. … Tanner Pearson has goals in three straight games. … Jeff Carter has goals in three straight games and two straight multi-point efforts. … The line of Carter, Pearson and Toffoli has combined for nine points (9-7=16) and a plus-22 rating in the last three games. … With 97 points (62-35=97) since his trade to Los Angeles, Carter is three points shy of 100 with the Kings. … With 28 career game-winning goals, Anze Kopitar is one GWG from surpassing Butch Goring and Mike Murphy and tying Rob Blake for fourth place on the club’s game-winning goal list. … With 27 career game-winning goals, Dustin Brown is GWG from tying Kopitar, Goring and Murphy for fifth place on the club’s game-winning goal list. … With 31 career shutouts, Jonathan Quick is one shutout behind Rogie Vachon for first place overall in club history. … With 197 points as a King (75-122=197), Jarret Stoll is three points shy of 200 with the club.

St. Louis Projected Lines

Patrik Berglund – David Backes – T.J. Oshie
Alexander Steen – Paul Stastny – Joakim Lindstrom
Jaden Schwartz – Jori Lehtera – Vladimir Tarasenko
Steve Ott – Maxim Lapierre – Ryan Reaves

Ian Cole – Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester – Kevin Shattenkirk
Barret Jackman – Jordan Leopold

Brian Elliott
Jake Allen

Notes and milestones: Lines via Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. … Defenseman Carl Gunnarson (hip) has been cleared to return to the lineup but is unlikely to play. … St. Louis hasn’t played since October 11, when they defeated Calgary at home, 4-1. They traveled after the game to Palm Springs, where they spent the early part of the week bonding and team-building. “We’re not a team yet, and we’ve had no social time together. We’ve had no fun together. It’s just been training camp, exhibition games, start of the season. There’s been no building and bonding that’s gone on,” Ken Hitchcock told Louie Korac. … . Over the past five seasons, they Blues are 20-8-3 on three or more days of rest. … With the win over Calgary, Ken Hitchcock became the first coach in NHL history to record 125 victories with four different franchises: Dallas (277), Philadelphia (131), Columbus (125) and St. Louis (125). … The Blues have outshot their opponents in each of the last five periods. … Paul Stastny has 30 points (11-19=30) in 29 career games against the Kings. … Joakim Lindstrom will appear in his 100th career game tonight. … With 199 career assists. David Backes is one shy of 200 in his career.