Game 56 Preview: Los Angeles vs Tampa Bay

Los Angeles Kings (25-18-12) vs Tampa Bay Lightning (35-17-6)
Monday, February 16, 2015, 7:30 p.m. PT
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #34 Brad Meier, #47 Trevor Hanson
Linesmen: #73 Vaughan Rody, #50 Scott Cherrey
Fox Sports West, KABC 790 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2014-15: 47 GP (46 GS) / 21-15-10 record / 2.50 GAA / .910 Sv% / 3 SHO
Career vs Tampa Bay: 6 (5) / 4-1-0 / 1.34 / .949 / 1
Last Game vs Tampa Bay: 2/7/15 / 60 MP / 26-28 shots / 4-2 W
2014-15, Home: 27 (26) / 16-5-5 / 2.20 / .919 / 3

Tampa Bay Projected Starting Goaltender – Andrei Vasilevskiy
2014-15: 8 GP (6 GS) / 4-1-1 record / 2.00 GAA / .932 Sv% / 0 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 1 (0) / 0-0-0 / 1.57 / .950 / 0
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 2/7/15 / 38 MP / 19-20 shots / 2-4 L (ND)
2014-15, Away: 5 (5) / 3-1-1 / 1.98 / .932 / 0

2014-15 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Jeff Carter (15-27=42)
Goals: Tyler Toffoli (18-18=36)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (11-30=41)
Plus/Minus: Tyler Toffoli (+20; 18-18=36)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (64; 2-7=9)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (29:24; 5-27=32)
Corsi-For Percentage: Anze Kopitar (58.5%; 11-30=41)

2014-15 Tampa Bay Leaders
Total Points: Tyler Johnson (20-34=54)
Goals: Steven Stamkos (30-23=53)
Assists: Tyler Johnson (20-34=54)
Plus/Minus: Nikita Kucherov (+27; 21-28=49)
Penalty Minutes: Brenden Morrow (45; 2-4=6)
Time On Ice: Victor Hedman (22:22; 7-18=25)
Corsi-For Percentage: Brett Connolly (57.4%; 11-3=14)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – t-17 / 2.74; TBL – 1 / 3.22
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 11 / 2.56; TBL – t-13 / 2.62
Power Play: LAK – t-12 / 18.9%; TBL – t-21 / 17.3%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 26 / 78.2%; TBL – t-11 / 82.7%
Shots/Game: LAK – t-5 / 31.5; TBL – 18 / 29.7
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 2 / 27.3; TBL – t-5 / 27.8
Faceoffs: LAK – 9 / 51.4%; TBL – t-14 / 49.9%
Save Percentage: LAK – t-21 / .906; TBL – t-21 / .906
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – 1 / 55.0%; TBL – t-2 / 54.0%

Los Angeles Projected Lines

Marian Gaborik – Anze Kopitar – Trevor Lewis
Dwight King – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Dustin Brown – Jarret Stoll – Justin Williams
Kyle Clifford – Nick Shore – Jordan Nolan

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

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: A-. No changes are expected from Saturday’s win over Washington. Jonathan Quick left the ice first, so he’s projected to start against Tampa Bay. Andy Andreoff and Derek Forbort remained on the ice for extra work with Martin Jones, so they’re likely out. Line rushes produced a multitude of defensive pairings, though that’s because of the odd number of defensemen available rather than any impending changes. Alec Martinez has not resumed skating and remains out of the lineup.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 11-16-3 all-time against Tampa Bay, a record that includes a home mark of 3-10-2. The Kings have won two straight home games against the Lightning for the first time in franchise history. The only Kings home wins over the Lightning took place in 1997-98 (5-2 / Glen Murray x2, Ian Laperriere, Sandy Moger, Yanic Perreault), 2010-11 (1-0 / Justin Williams) and 2013-14 (5-2 / Justin Williams / Anze Kopitar / Matt Frattin / Dwight King / Dustin Brown). … Los Angeles has 42 points at home this season (18-6-6), marking the best start through 30 home games in franchise history. Previously the most points through 30 home games was 41 (twice, 2005-06 and 1974-75). … Los Angeles is 10-11-3 against the Eastern Conference and 6-5-1 against the Atlantic Division. … The Kings are 13-1-3 when leading after one period and 17-1-3 when leading after two periods. … Since the All-Star Break, Los Angeles leads the NHL with a 58.0% Fenwick-close. … Dwight King has goals in three straight games (3-2=5). By scoring his 10th goal of the season on Saturday, he has now reached the 10-goal plateau in back-to-back years. His career-high in goals is 15, set in 2013-14. … Tyler Toffoli has points in four consecutive games (5-2=7). Since his six-game absence for mononucleosis, he has nine points (6-3=9) in eight games. … Jeff Carter has assists in three straight games (1-5=6). He currently leads the team with 42 points (15-27=42). … King, Carter and Toffoli have combined for 24 points in the eight games since the All-Star Break. … Los Angeles leads the NHL with 1,820 hits entering tonight’s action.

Tampa Bay Projected Lines

Alex Killorn – Steven Stamkos – Ryan Callahan
Ondrej Palat – Tyler Johnson – Nikita Kucherov
Valtteri Filppula – Cedric Paquette – Brett Connolly
Jonathan Drouin – Brian Boyle – Brenden Morrow

Victor Hedman – Andrej Sustr
Anton Stralman – Nikita Nesterov
Luke Witkowski – Jason Garrison

Andrei Vasilevskiy
Ben Bishop

Notes and milestones: Defensemen Matt Carle (abdominal surgery) and Radko Gudas (knee surgery) are out, while forward J.T. Brown and defenseman Mark Barberio are expected to be scratched tonight, via Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune. … After winning 5-2 in San Jose last night, Tampa Bay is 1-0-0 on its five-game, 10-day road trip. The trip continues in Anaheim on Wednesday, followed by a Saturday-Sunday back-to-back set at Arizona and Colorado. The Lightning are 4-5-1 this season on the second day of back-to-backs. … Tampa Bay leads the NHL with 187 goals and is tied for first in the league with Nashville with 33 regulation and overtime victories this season. … The Lightning lead the league with 72 third period goals. … Nikita Kucherov is tied for first in the league with a +27 rating, while Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat are tied for fourth with a +25 rating. … Tyler Johnson (20-34=54) is the only undrafted player amongst the top-20 scorers in the NHL. Currently tied for 11th in the league with 54 points, the 10 players in front of Johnson were all first round draft picks. A Spokane native, he is one of three active Washingtonians; T.J. Oshie (Mt. Vernon / St. Louis) and Pat Dwyer (Spokane / Carolina) are the others. … Cedric Paquette has seven goals over his past eight games, though he missed two games before returning the lineup for last night’s 5-2 win in San Jose. … Valtteri Filppula has a four-game point streak (1-6=7). … The Lightning have 10 players who have hit the 10-goal plateau, the latest being Brett Connolly (11-3=14). … Andrej Sustr is expected to play his 100th NHL game tonight.