Game 65 Preview: Los Angeles vs Pittsburgh

Los Angeles Kings (31-21-12) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (37-18-9)
Saturday March 7, 2015, 7:00 p.m. PT
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #15 Jean Hebert, #33 Kevin Pollock
Linesmen: #73 Vaughan Rody, #86 Brad Lazarowich
Fox Sports West, Sportsnet, KABC 790 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2014-15: 55 GP (54 GS) / 27-17-10 record / 2.40 GAA / .913 Sv% / 4 SHO
Career vs Pittsburgh: 5 (5) / 1-2-2 / 2.90 / .887 / 0
Last Game vs Pittsburgh: 1/30/14 / 20 MP / 4-7 shots / 1-4 L
2014-15, Home: 31 (30) / 19-6-5 / 2.10 / .921 / 4

Pittsburgh Projected Starting Goaltender – Marc-Andre Fleury
2014-15: 50 GP (50 GS) / 29-14-6 record / 2.21 GAA / .923 Sv% / 8 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 7 (7) / 5-2-0 / 1.95 / .938 / 1
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 10/30/14 / 60 MP / 36-36 shots / 3-0 W
2014-15, Away: 20 (20) / 11-5-3 / 2.24 / .918 / 4

2014-15 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Jeff Carter (22-28=50)
Goals: Jeff Carter (22-28=50)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (13-36=49)
Plus/Minus: Tyler Toffoli (+21; 19-21=40)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (76; 4-7=11)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (29:27; 5-33=38)
Corsi-For Percentage: Anze Kopitar (58.5%; 13-36=49)

2014-15 Pittsburgh Leaders
Total Points: Evgeni Malkin (28-39=67)
Goals: Evgeni Malkin (28-39=67)
Assists: Sidney Crosby (21-45=66)
Plus/Minus: Paul Martin (+20; 3-14=17)
Penalty Minutes: Steve Downie (191; 11-13=24)
Time On Ice: Kris Letang (25:45; 10-40=50)
Corsi-For Percentage: Ian Cole (60.5%; 4-6=10)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – 17 / 2.70; PIT – t-7 / 2.88
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 10 / 2.50; PIT – t-5 / 2.42
Power Play: LAK – t-14 / 18.2%; PIT – 7 / 20.8%
Penalty Kill: LAK – t-20 / 80.3%; PIT – 5 / 85.3%
Shots/Game: LAK – t-9 / 30.9; PIT – t-9 / 30.9
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 2 / 27.3; PIT – t-12 / 29.3
Faceoffs: LAK – 10 / 51.5%; PIT – t-21 / 48.6%
Save Percentage: LAK – t-15 / .909; PIT – 7 / .917
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – 1 / 54.8%; PIT – 9 / 52.2%

Los Angeles Projected Lineup

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 – Andrej Sekera

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: A. No changes are expected from Thursday night. Jonathan Quick left the ice first at the morning skate and is expected to start in net. Jamie McBain and Andy Andreoff remained on the ice for extra work with Martin Jones, so they’re likely tonight’s scratches.

Notes and Milestones: Los Angeles is 71-59-21 all-time against Pittsburgh, a record that includes a home mark of 45-18-8. The Kings are 3-4-3 in their last 10 games against the Penguins. … Los Angeles is 13-12-3 against the Eastern Conference and 4-6-2 against the Metropolitan Division. … The Kings’ penalty kill has successfully killed off 27 of their past 28 shorthanded situations. … Los Angeles is 12-0-3 when scoring on the power play at home and 21-3-7 overall when scoring first.. … Jeff Carter has 14 points (8-6=14) in his last 12 games and has four goals (4-0=4) in his last three games. … Anze Kopitar has four points over his last two games (1-3=4)… Trevor Lewis has already set career highs in goals (9) and points (19). With 10 assists, he is one assist from surpassing his career-high (2010-11). … With six goals, Jake Muzzin is one goal from setting his career high in goals in a single season (7, 2012-13). He was selected by Pittsburgh in the fifth round of the 2007 NHL Draft but did not sign with the club. … Marian Gaborik leads the team with nine power play goals this season. … Anze Kopitar has seven points (4-3=7) in eight career games against Pittsburgh. … Tonight’s Legends Night honoree Luc Robitaille recorded 23 goals and 42 points over 46 games with Pittsburgh in 1994-95. He added seven goals and four assists in 12 playoff games. Robitaille scored four goals against Hartford while with Pittsburgh on February 16, 1995.

Pittsburgh Projected Lineup

David Perron – Sidney Crosby – Patric Hornqvist
Chris Kunitz – Evgeni Malkin – Blake Comeau
Beau Bennett – Brandon Sutter – Daniel Winnik
Nick Spaling – Maxim Lapierre – Craig Adams

Paul Martin – Kris Letang
Rob Scuderi – Ian Cole
Derrick Pouliot – Ben Lovejoy

Marc-Andre Fleury
Thomas Greiss

Notes and Milestones: Lines via NHL.com correspondent Curtis Zupke … Evgeni Malkin is tied with Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin and John Tavares with a league-high 67 points (28-39=67). Malkin’s 1.14 points per game leads the league. … Pittsburgh has won seven of its previous nine meetings against Los Angeles. … Marc-Andre Fleury has a three-game winning streak against Los Angeles, posting a 0.95 goals against average over those three games. … Chris Kunitz has a five-game goal scoring streak against Los Angeles with six goals in those five games. … This is likely to be the first game since November 5, 2011 in which goalies Marc-Andre Fleury and Jonathan Quick will face each other. Pittsburgh won that game, 3-2, in a shootout. … The Penguins’ 13 wins against Western Conference teams ranks sixth-best among Eastern Conference clubs despite Pittsburgh playing the fewest games against the West in their conference. … Evgeni Malkin enters tonight’s game with 699 career points. … Rob Scuderi recorded 47 points (4-43=47) in 285 regular season games with Los Angeles between 2009-13 and won the 2012 Stanley Cup.