Game 40 Preview: Los Angeles vs Nashville

Los Angeles Kings (19-12-8) vs Nashville Predators (24-9-3)
Saturday, January 3, 2015, 1:00 p.m. PT
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #13 Dan O’Halloran, #20 Tim Peel
Linesmen: #63 Trent Knorr, #79 Kiel Murchison
FOX Sports West, KABC 790 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2014-15: 32 GP (32 GS) / 16-9-7 record / 2.27 GAA / .919 Sv% / 3 SHO
Career vs Nashville: 10 (10) / 2-6-2 / 2.76 / .888 / 0
Last Game vs Nashville: 11/2/13 / 58 MP / 13-17 shots / 3-4 L
2014-15, Home: 18 (18) / 13-3-2 / 1.79 / .935 / 3

Nashville Projected Starting Goaltender – Pekka Rinne
2014-15: 32 GP (32 GS) / 24-6-2 record / 1.88 GAA / .934 Sv% / 3 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 15 (15) / 8-6-1 / 2.72 / .895 / 1
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 11/25/14 / 65 MP / 18-21 shots / 4-3 W
2014-15, Away: 15 (15) / 10-4-1 / 1.93 / .936 / 2

2014-15 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Jeff Carter (10-18=28)
Goals: Tyler Toffoli (12-14=26)
Assists: Drew Doughty (4-19=23)
Plus/Minus: Tyler Toffoli (+16; 12-14=26)
Penalty Minutes: Matt Greene (38; 2-2=4)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (29:11; 4-19=23)
Corsi-For Percentage: Trevor Lewis (60.7%; 6-4=10)

2014-15 Nashville Leaders
Total Points: Filip Forsberg (14-21=35)
Goals: Filip Forsberg (14-21=35)
Assists: Filip Forsberg (14-21=35), Mike Ribeiro (9-21=30)
Plus/Minus: Filip Forsberg (+22; 14-21=35)
Penalty Minutes: James Neal (37; 13-10=23)
Time On Ice: Shea Weber (26:30; 8-17=25)
Corsi-For Percentage: Colin Wilson (59.5%; 10-10=20)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – 16 / 2.69; NSH – 11 / 2.83
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 6 / 2.33; NSH – 2 / 2.11
Power Play: LAK – t-8 / 20.7%; NSH – 28 / 13.3%
Penalty Kill: LAK – t-18 / 80.3%; NSH – t-16 / 80.4%
Shots/Game: LAK – 4 / 31.8; NSH – 2 / 32.8
Shots Against/Game: LAK – t-9 / 28.2; NSH – 12 / 28.6
Faceoffs: LAK – t-10 / 51.1%; NSH – t-25 / 47.7%
Save Percentage: LAK – t-7 / .917; NSH – 2 / .926
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – 2 / 54.6%; NSH – 6 / 53.0%

Los Angeles Projected Lineup

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

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Alec Martinez – Matt Greene
Jeff Schultz – Jamie McBain

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: B-. The forward lines should be accurate based on Thursday’s game and yesterday’s line rushes, though there could be changes defensively. Expect Brayden McNabb to take part in warm-ups; if he plays this afternoon, it would be in place of Jeff Schultz or Jamie McBain.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 29-23-7 all-time versus Nashville, a record that includes a home mark of 14-13-2. While the Kings are 5-4-1 in their last 10 road games in the series, they are 4-5-1 in the last 10 home games. These teams will conclude the season series on March 14 at Staples Center. … Los Angeles is 13-6-5 against the Western Conference and 6-4-1 against the Central Division. … The Kings are 5-5-8 in one-goal games and 14-7 in games decided by two goals or more. … Los Angeles is 2-8 in games that extend past 60 minutes and has lost five consecutive shootouts. L.A. shooters are 2-for-21 on the season in the shootout and have been denied on the last 15 attempts since Marian Gaborik’s shootout goal in Anaheim on November 12. … The Kings are 13-3-2 when scoring a power play goal, 10-0-1 when scoring a power play goal at home and 13-1-4 when scoring the game’s first goal. … Los Angeles has a 58.4% Corsi-for rating in five-on-five play over the last 19 games (1023 CF / 729 CA). The Kings haven’t been outshot over the last 15 games (7-5-3) and have averaged 35.5 shots per game over that span (532 shots / 15 GP). Opposing goalies have posted a .923 save percentage over that span (491 saves / 532 shots). … The Kings are 12-for-32 on the power play (37.5%) over their last eight games. … With 98 career points (27-71=98), Jamie McBain is two points from 100 in his career. … Jeff Carter has 11 goals in 17 career games against Nashville. … Marian Gaborik has 29 points (14-15=29) in 30 career games against Nashville.

Nashville Projected Lineup

Filip Forsberg – Mike Ribeiro – Craig Smith
Colin Wilson – Mike Fisher – James Neal
Gabriel Bourque – Paul Gaustad – Olli Jokinen
Eric Nystrom – Calle Jarnkrok – Mark Arcobello

Roman Josi – Shea Weber
Mattias Ekholm – Ryan Ellis
Anton Volchenkov – Seth Jones

Pekka Rinne
Carter Hutton

Notes and milestones: Lines via DailyFaceoff.com … Viktor Stalberg, potentially on the verge of a recall from AHL-Milwaukee, is an option, as could be Miikka Salomaki. … Matt Cullen (Injured Reserve / upper-body) and Taylor Beck (Injured Reserve / illness) did not make the trip, while James Neal is day-to-day with a lower body injury. … Nashville concludes its two-game road trip with a game in Anaheim on Sunday. … Pekka Rinne leads the NHL with 24 wins, four more than any other goaltender. His .934 save percentage and 1.88 goals-against average rank second in the league. … Colin Wilson was name the NHL’s Second Star of the Week (week ending December 28) with five points (4-1=5), having scored in all three Predators games last week. … With 35 points (14-21=35), Filip Forsberg is two points behind Alexander Radulov’s club record of 37 points (18-19=37), set in 2006-07. Forsberg leads all NHL rookies in scoring. … Mike Fisher has eight points (4-4=8) in his last nine games. … Roman Josi is tied for third in the NHL with 92 blocked shots. … Mike Ribeiro, who played his 900th NHL game in a 5-4 shootout loss at Chicago on Monday, leads the Predators with a 20.5% shooting percentage and leads Nashville forwards with a 19:12 average time on ice. He has 13 points (4-9=13) in his last 14 games. … The Predators have outshot their opponents 16 times in their last 21 games. Their winning percentage when outshooting their opponent (.818) leads the NHL. … Nashville has scored 17 third period goals in the last 14 games and has outscored opponents 41-28 in third periods this season. … The Predators lead the NHL in five-on-five goals-for to goals-against ratio (1.56). … Nashville is 2-0-1 on the front end of back-to-back sets. … The Predators are 15-4-3 in one-goal games and 9-5 in games decided by two goals or more.