Game 23 Preview: Los Angeles at Minnesota

Los Angeles Kings (11-6-5) at Minnesota Wild (12-8-0)
Wednesday, November 26, 2014, 5:00 p.m. PT
Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Referees: #12 Justin St. Pierre, #28 Chris Lee
Linesmen: #78 Brian Mach, #82 Ryan Galloway
Fox Sports West, KABC 790 AM

Los Angeles Kings v Minnesota Wild

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2014-15: 18 GP (18 GS) / 10-4-4 record / 2.22 GAA / .932 Sv% / 2 SHO
Career vs Minnesota: 16 (16) / 9-4-3 / 2.39 / .904 / 0
Last Game vs Minnesota: 10/19/14 / 60 MP / 40-41 shots / 2-1 W
2014-15, Away: 7 (7) / 1-3-3 / 3.35 / .906 / 0

Minnesota Projected Starting Goaltender – Darcy Kuemper
2014-15: 16 GP (15 GS) / 9-6-0 record / 2.03 GAA / .919 Sv% / 3 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 2 (1) / 1-0-0 / 0.99 / .962 / 0
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 1/7/14 / 65 MP / 39-40 shots / 2-1 W
2014-15, Home: 8 (8) / 6-1-0 / 1.73 / .919 / 2

Arizona Coyotes v Minnesota Wild

Mike Yeo, on under-the-radar Minnesota defensemen:

2014-15 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Tyler Toffoli (8-10=18), Jeff Carter (7-11=18)
Goals: Tanner Pearson (9-3=12)
Assists: Jeff Carter (7-11=18), Drew Doughty (2-11=13)
Plus/Minus: Tyler Toffoli (+12; 8-10=18), Jeff Carter (+12; 7-11=18),
Tanner Pearson (+12; 9-3=12)
Penalty Minutes: Mike Richards (35; 3-6=9)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (29:10; 2-11=13)
Corsi-For Percentage: Jake Muzzin (60.3%; 1-9=10)

2014-15 Minnesota Leaders
Total Points: Zach Parise (8-6=14)
Goals: Nino Niederreiter (10-3=13)
Assists: Ryan Suter (1-10=11)
Plus/Minus: Ryan Suter (+13; 1-10=11), Jared Spurgeon (+13; 3-5=8)
Penalty Minutes: Marco Scandella (30; 4-3=7)
Time On Ice: Ryan Suter (29:13; 1-10=11)
Corsi-For Percentage: Jason Pominville (63.9%; 4-9=13)

Tampa Bay Lightning v Minnesota Wild

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – 15 / 2.68; MIN – t-9 / 2.85
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 7 / 2.27; MIN – 4 / 2.20
Power Play: LAK – 20 / 17.6%; MIN – 29 / 9.2%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 11 / 83.5%; MIN – 5 / 87.5%
Shots/Game: LAK – 15 / 30.4; MIN – 3 / 33.0
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 24 / 31.9; MIN – 1 / 25.0
Faceoffs: LAK – t-9 / 51.8%; MIN – t-19 / 49.1%
Save Percentage: LAK – 1 / .929; MIN – t-14 / .912
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – 15 / 50.4%; MIN – 2 / 54.1%

Los Angeles Kings v Minnesota Wild

Los Angeles Projected Lines

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

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Brayden McNabb – Matt Greene
Robyn Regehr – Jamie McBain

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: B. The Kings held a very optional morning skate, so no line rushes took place. The above forward alignment represents what Darryl Sutter utilized at the start of Tuesday’s game in Nashville. Martin Jones drew the start last night, so expect Jonathan Quick to start against Minnesota tonight.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 23-15-13 all-time against Minnesota, a record that includes a road mark of 11-7-7. Seven of the last eight games between the teams have been decided by one goal. These teams will conclude the season series on March 28 at the Xcel Energy Center. … The Kings are 7-3-3 against the Western Conference and 4-2-1 against the Central Division. … Los Angeles has averaged 3.5 goals per game over its last eight games (28 GF / 8 GP). … On the road, the Kings are 2-for-29 on the power play (6.9% / 27th, NHL) and 28-for-37 on the penalty kill (75.7%, 23rd, NHL). … Los Angeles is 1-2-0 on the second night of back-to-backs this season. … Drew Doughty (29:10 TOI average) has logged at least 30 minutes in eight of the last 10 games and trails Minnesota’s Ryan Suter (29:13 TOI average) by three seconds for the league lead in average ice time. Doughty (61-173=234) is tied with Marty McSorley for fifth place on the Kings’ all-time defensemen scoring list and has points in five straight games (1-4=5). … Justin Williams has a five-game point streak (2-4=6). … Brayden McNabb has tied a career high with points/assists in two straight games (0-2=2). … With 199 career goals, Dustin Brown is one goal shy of 200 in his career. He and Anze Kopitar are one game-winning goal from surpassing Mike Murphy and Butch Goring for fifth place on the club’s all-time list and tying Rob Blake for fourth place. … Marian Gaborik is the Wild’s all-time franchise leader in goals (219), plus-minus (+54), power play goals (59), game-winning goals (43), shots (1,694) and ranks second in points (437).

Dallas Stars v Minnesota Wild

Minnesota Projected Lines

Zach Parise – Mikael Granlund – Jason Pominville
Thomas Vanek – Mikko Koivu – Jason Zucker
Nino Niederreiter – Erik Haula – Charlie Coyle
Ryan Carter – Kyle Brodziak – Justin Fontaine

Ryan Suter – Jared Spurgeon
Marco Scandella – Nate Prosser
Keith Ballard – Matt Dumba

Darcy Kuemper
Niklas Backstrom

Notes and milestones: Lines via Dan Myers of NHL.com … Defenseman Jonas Brodin (illness) and forward Matt Cooke (lower-body) won’t play. … Minnesota has outshot its opponents in all but two games this season. … The Wild’s eight games on home ice are the second fewest played in the NHL. Minnesota is 7-1-0 at the Xcel Energy Center. … The Wild have outscored opponents 16-7 and outshot opponents 223-142 in first periods this season. … Minnesota has allowed only two goals on 29 shorthanded opportunities at home. … The Wild are 2-8-2 in games played on the day before Thanksgiving. … Keith Ballard, who turned 32 today, is slated to play in his 600th NHL game tonight. … Ryan Suter leads the league with an average time on ice of 29:13. … Nino Niederreiter leads the NHL with six goals since November 13. He has seven points (6-1=7) in his last six games.

Los Angeles Kings v Minnesota Wild

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