Game 78 Preview: Los Angeles vs Colorado

Los Angeles Kings (38-25-14) vs Colorado Avalanche (36-30-12)
Saturday, April 4, 2015, 7:00 p.m. PT
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #24 Graham Skilliter, #11 Kelly Sutherland
Linesmen: #94 Bryan Pancich, #57 Jay Sharrers
Fox Sports West, Sportsnet, KABC 790 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2014-15: 68 GP (67 GS) / 34-21-12 record / 2.30 GAA / .916 Sv% / 6 SHO
Career vs Colorado: 17 (17) / 11-4-1 / 2.41 / .910 / 2
Last Game vs Colorado: 3/10/15 / 60 MP / 21-23 shots / 5-2 W
2014-15, Home: 36 (35) / 21-8-6 / 2.00 / .925 / 5

Colorado Projected Starting Goaltender – Semyon Varlamov
2014-15: 54 GP (54 GS) / 26-19-8 record / 2.57 GAA / .921 Sv% / 5 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 9 (9) / 5-3-1 / 1.96 / .932 / 1
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 2/18/15 / 58 MP / 22-25 shots / 1-4 L
2014-15, Away: 28 (28) / 10-10-7 / 2.92 / .915 / 2

2014-15 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (16-46=62)
Goals: Jeff Carter (28-30=58)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (16-46=62)
Plus/Minus: Tyler Toffoli (+22; 22-23=45)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (85; 6-9=15)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (29:02; 6-37=43)
Corsi-For Percentage: Andrej Sekera (60.2%; 3-20=23)

2014-15 Colorado Leaders
Total Points: Jarome Iginla (26-30=56), Gabriel Landeskog (23-33=56)
Goals: Ryan Jarome Iginla (26-30=56)
Assists: Tyson Barrie (12-39=51)
Plus/Minus: Matt Duchene (+5; 21-32=53)
Penalty Minutes: Cody McLeod (185; 6-5=11)
Time On Ice: Erik Johnson* (24:25; 12-11=23)
Corsi-For Percentage: Nathan MacKinnon (48.9%; 14-24=38)
*On Injured Reserve; active leader is Tyson Barrie (21:12; 12-39=51)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – t-17 / 2.69; COL – 21 / 2.59
Goals Against/Game: LAK – t-5 / 2.43; COL – 24 / 2.77
Power Play: LAK – t-12 / 18.8%; COL – 29 / 14.5%
Penalty Kill: LAK – t-19 / 80.6%; COL – 5 / 84.6%
Shots/Game: LAK – 10 / 30.9; COL – 27 / 28.3
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 2 / 27.2; COL – 27 / 33.1
Faceoffs: LAK – t-11 / 51.5%; COL – 14 / 50.6%
Save Percentage: LAK – 13 / .911; COL – t-7 / .916
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – 1 / 54.9%; COL – 29 / 43.6%

Los Angeles Projected Lineup

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

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Robyn Regehr – Alec Martinez
Brayden McNabb – Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: A. Jonathan Quick left the ice first at the morning skate and is expected to start in net. Mike Richards, Andy Andreoff and Jamie McBain remained on the ice for extra work with Martin Jones and Tanner Pearson (IR / broken lower fibula), so they’re not likely to play tonight. Andrej Sekera (lower-body) has not skated since his injury Monday in Chicago.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 62-47-12 all-time against Colorado, a record that includes a home mark of 35-18-8. The Kings are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games against the Avalanche at Staples Center. … Los Angeles has won four straight games against Colorado, having recorded points in seven consecutive games against the Avs (6-0-1). … The Kings are 22-13-10 against the Western Conference, a mark that includes a 9-8-3 record against the Central Division. Tonight’s game is the club’s final regular season game against the Central Division. … Los Angeles is 26-5-8 when scoring first. … Dating back to February 7, Jonathan Quick is 17-6-2 with a 2.00 GAA, a .925 Sv% and three shutouts (1442:17 min / 644 shots against / 596 saves). … With 199 career assists, Drew Doughty needs one assist to reach 200 in his career. … Jeff Carter has 13 points (12-1=13) in 14 career games against Colorado. The Kings are 14-1-0 when he records a multi-point game. … Anze Kopitar has 33 points (13-20=33) in 32 career games against Colorado. … Nick Shore has won 72 of his last 113 faceoffs (63.7%). He leads Los Angeles faceoff regulars with a 54.2% rate. … Robyn Regehr was selected in the first round, 19th overall, by Colorado in the 1998 NHL Draft. Colorado had acquired the pick in the June, 1996 trade with Los Angeles that saw the teams swap first round picks in addition to the Kings acquiring Stephane Fiset and the Avalanche acquiring Eric Lacroix. Regehr’s rights were later traded from Colorado to Calgary as part of the February, 1999 Theo Fleury trade. With the 21st pick in the 1998 NHL Draft, the Kings selected Mathieu Biron, who would later become a part of the Ziggy Palffy trade in June, 1999.

Colorado Projected Lineup

John Mitchell – Matt Duchene – Jarome Iginla
Gabriel Landeskog – Ryan O’Reilly – Alex Tanguay
Cody McLeod – Marc-Andre Cliche – Dennis Everberg
Jordan Caron – Freddie Hamilton – Joey Hishon

Nate Guenin – Tyson Barrie
Jan Hejda – Zach Redmond
Brad Stuart – Nick Holden

Semyon Varlamov
Reto Berra

Notes and Milestones: Lines via NHL.com correspondent Curtis Zupke … Colorado is expected to be without Patrick Bordeleau (knee / IR), Daniel Briere (foot), Erik Johnson (knee / IR), Nathan MacKinnon (foot), Jamie McGinn (back / IR), Borna Rendulic (leg / IR), Ryan Wilson (shoulder / IR) and Jesse Winchester (head / IR). … The Avalanche have lost 462 man games, second most in the NHL. … Colorado is playing its 12th back-to-back of the season after having won 4-2 in Anaheim on Friday. The Avalanche are 3-5-3 on the second nights of back-to-back sets this season. … Gabriel Landeskog has 25 points (13-12=25) in his last 24 games. … Tyson Barrie (12-39=51) became the fourth defenseman in Avalanche history to record a 50-point season, joining Sandis Ozolinsh (four times), Rob Blake (twice) and Ray Bourque. … Matt Duchene has goals in two straight games and seven points (3-4=7) in his last five games.