Game 82 Preview: Los Angeles vs San Jose

Los Angeles Kings (39-27-15) vs San Jose Sharks (40-32-9)
Saturday, April 11, 2015, 12:00 p.m. PT
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #18 Dave Jackson, #38 Francois St. Laurent
Linesmen: #55 Shane Heyer, #73 Vaughan Rody
NBC, KABC 790 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick*
2014-15: 71 GP (70 GS) / 35-22-13 record / 2.26 GAA / .917 Sv% / 6 SHO
Career vs San Jose: 25 (25) / 13-6-5 / 2.45 / .912 / 3
Last Game vs San Jose: 2/21/15 / 60 MP / 31-32 shots / 2-1 W
2014-15, Home: 37 (36) / 22-8-6 / 1.97 / .924 / 5
*The Kings did not name a starting goaltender and did not practice yesterday, so Quick is listed by default as the starter.

San Jose Projected Starting Goaltender – Antti Niemi*
2014-15: 61 GP (61 GS) / 31-23-7 record / 2.59 GAA / .914 Sv% / 5 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 26 (26) / 14-8-3 / 2.34 / .924 / 3
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 2/21/15 / 59 MP / 27-29 / 1-2 L
2014-15, Away: 29 (29) / 17-10-2 / 2.51 / .923 / 2
*The Sharks did not name a starting goaltender and did not practice yesterday, so Niemi is listed by default as the starter.

2014-15 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (16-48=64)
Goals: Jeff Carter (28-33=61)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (16-48=64)
Plus/Minus: Tyler Toffoli (+23; 22-25=47)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (85; 6-9=15)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (29:01; 7-38=45)
Corsi-For Percentage: Andrej Sekera (60.2%; 3-20=23)

2014-15 San Jose Leaders
Total Points: Joe Pavelski (37-32=69)
Goals: Joe Pavelski (37-32=69)
Assists: Joe Thornton (16-48=64)
Plus/Minus: Joe Pavelski (+12; 37-32=69), Marc-Edouard Vlasic (+12; 9-14=23)
Penalty Minutes: John Scott (85; 3-1=4)
Time On Ice: Brent Burns (23:56; 16-43=59)
Corsi-For Percentage: Joe Thornton (58.4%; 16-48=64)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – 19 / 2.64; SJS – t-14 / 2.75
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 7 / 2.42; SJS – 24 / 2.74
Power Play: LAK – t-10 / 19.3%; SJS – 6 / 21.5%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 15 / 81.1%; SJS – 25 / 78.2%
Shots/Game: LAK – 11 / 30.9; SJS – 4 / 31.7
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 1 / 27.2; SJS – t-15 / 29.6
Faceoffs: LAK – 11 / 51.4%; SJS – 6 / 51.9%
Save Percentage: LAK – t-16 / .911; SJS – t-21 / .908
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – 1 / 55.2%; SJS – 13 / 51.4%

Los Angeles Projected Lineup

Marian Gaborik – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams
Dwight King – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Trevor Lewis – Jarret Stoll – Dustin Brown
Andy Andreoff – Mike Richards – Jordan Weal

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Robyn Regehr – Jamie McBain
Alec Martinez – Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: F. This is more or less a shot in the dark. There is likely to be a combination of younger players and veterans in tonight’s lineup, with deference given to those who may be playing their final game in a Kings jersey and/or playing in their final game a. Jordan Weal has been recalled from AHL-Manchester and will make his NHL debut. It is unclear whether Jonathan Quick or Martin Jones will start; Quick is listed by default as the starter.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 59-57-19 all-time against San Jose, a record that includes a home mark of 37-23-7. The Kings are 8-1-1 in their last 10 home games in the series. Home teams are 26-6-1 in the last 33 regular season games in the series. … With 22 points (6-16=22), Alec Martinez is one point from surpassing his career-high (22; 2013-14). … With six goals, Jordan Nolan is one goal from surpassing his career-high (6; 2013-14). … With six goals, Kyle Clifford is one goal from tying his career-high (7; 2010-11, 2012-13). … With 199 points (36-163=199), Robyn Regehr is one point from 200 in his career. … With 30 power play goals, Drew Doughty is one power play goal behind Lubomir Visnovsky for third most amongst Kings defensemen. Doughty (29:01) is two seconds behind NHL leader Ryan Suter (29:03) in time on ice per game. … Leading team consecutive games played streaks include Jeff Carter (138; since 11/25/13), Dustin Brown (93; since 3/20/14) and Matt Greene (85; since 4/3/14). The club record is held by Anze Kopitar, who appeared in 330 consecutive games between March 21, 2007 and March 26, 2011. … Including playoffs, the Kings are expected to play in front of their 161st consecutive sold out crowd. … Los Angeles and San Jose will wear their Stadium Series jerseys today.

San Jose Projected Lineup

Melker Karlsson – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Patrick Marleau – Logan Couture – Tomas Hertl
Matt Nieto – Chris Tierney – Tommy Wingels
John Scott – Ben Smith – Bryan Lerg

Brenden Dillon – Justin Braun
Karl Stollery – Brent Burns
Matt Irwin – Taylor Fedun

Antti Niemi
Alex Stalock

Notes and milestones: San Jose did not practice on Friday; the above lineup was the projected lineup for their game in Edmonton on Thursday, courtesy of NHL.com correspondent Derek Van Diest. … Forward Mike Brown is also an option to play. … Bryan Lerg, who made his NHL debut on April 9 in Edmonton, became the first Sharks player to score a game-winning goal in his debut since Devin Setoguchi did so on October 29, 2007, and the fourth-oldest player (29 years, 79 days) to score his first career NHL goal. His eight shots on goal were the most in Sharks history for a player making his NHL debut, via the Elias Sports Bureau. … Joe Pavelski ranks second in the league with 19 power play goals. Alex Ovechkin is the NHL’s leader with 24.