Game 66 Preview: Los Angeles vs Washington

Los Angeles Kings (39-22-4) vs Washington Capitals (49-13-4)
Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 7:30 p.m. PT
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #38 Francois St. Laurent, #21 TJ Luxmore
Linesmen: #65 Pierre Racicot, #63 Trent Knorr
FOX Sports West, KABC 790 AM, I Heart Radio

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2015-16: 53 GP (53 GS) / 33-17-3 record / 2.17 GAA / .920 Sv% / 3 SHO
Career vs Washington: 7 (7) / 5-2-0 / 2.38 / .918 / 0
Last Game vs Washington: 2/16/16 / 59 MP / 29-31 shots / 1-3 L
2015-16, Home: 30 (30) / 18-11-1 / 2.24 / .908 / 1

Washington Projected Starting Goaltender: Braden Holtby
2015-16: 54 GP (54 GS) / 41-8-3 record / 2.21 GAA / .923 Sv% / 2 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 2 (2) / 1-1-0 / 1.53 / .947 / 1
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 2/14/15 / 57 MP / 27-30 shots / 1-3 L
2015-16, Away: 26 (26) / 19-5-2 / 2.28 / .922 / 1

2015-16 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (20-38=58)
Goals: Tyler Toffoli (24-21=45)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (20-38=58)
Plus/Minus: Tyler Toffoli (+27; 24-21=45)
Penalty Minutes: Brayden McNabb (76; 2-5=7)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (28:22; 13-30=43)
Corsi-For Percentage: Nick Shore (60.4%; 3-6=9)

2015-16 Washington Leaders
Total Points: Evgeny Kuznetsov (20-47=67)
Goals: Alex Ovechkin (41-19=60)
Assists: Evgeny Kuznetsov (20-47=67)
Plus/Minus: Evgeny Kuznetsov (+31; 20-47=67)
Penalty Minutes: Tom Wilson (141; 6-14=20)
Time On Ice: Matt Niskanen (24:35; 5-23=28)
Corsi-For Percentage: Dmitry Orlov (53.8%; 7-18=25)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – t-13 / 2.66; WSH – t-1 / 3.18
Goals Against/Game: LAK – t-1 / 2.26; WSH – 3 / 2.27
Power Play: LAK – t-4 / 22.2%; WSH – 3 / 23.3%
Penalty Kill: LAK – t-15 / 81.1%; WSH – 4 / 84.8%
Shots/Game: LAK – 2 / 32.6; WSH – 8 / 30.7
Shots Against/Game: LAK – t-3 / 27.6; WSH – t-9 / 28.9
Faceoffs: LAK – 15 / 50.0%; WSH – 17 / 49.8%
Save Percentage: LAK – t-7 / .918; WSH – 2 / .921
Corsi-for Percentage: LAK – 1 / 56.3% / WSH – 16 / 50.4%

Los Angeles Projected Lines

Milan Lucic – Anze Kopitar – Jeff Carter
Tanner Pearson – Vincent Lecavalier – Tyler Toffoli
Dwight King – Trevor Lewis – Dustin Brown
Kyle Clifford – Nick Shore – Kris Versteeg

Rob Scuderi – Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin – Alec Martinez
Brayden McNabb – Luke Schenn

Jonathan Quick
Jhonas Enroth

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 56-34-15 all-time against Washington, a record that includes a home mark of 32-14-7. The Kings are 0-1-0 against the Capitals this season, having lost 3-1 at Verizon Center on February 16. Los Angeles has won five consecutive home games against the Capitals and has not lost at home in the series since a 3-2 setback on December 14, 2005. The Kings are 11-3-2 against Washington in the last 16 overall meetings…. Los Angeles is 17-9-2 against the Eastern Conference and 8-5-0 against the Metropolitan Division. … Head coach Darryl Sutter is one win behind Bob Pulford (178) for second on the Kings’ all-time wins list. … Dustin Brown is one assist away from surpassing Mark Hardy (250) for 11th overall in team history and one point behind Charlie Simmer (466) for 10th overall. He has gone nine consecutive games without a point. … With 430 career assists, Anze Kopitar is one assist behind Bernie Nicholls for fifth place in team history. … Drew Doughty currently ranks third in the NHL in time on ice (28:22). … Kopitar ranks third among NHL forwards in TOI with 20:50. … Tyler Toffoli ranks third in the NHL in plus/minus at plus-27. … Jonathan Quick is one shutout away from surpassing Frank Brimsek and John Vanbiesbrouck (all 40) for the most all-time among United States-born goalies. … Jeff Carter registered his 300th career goal on Monday against Vancouver. … Doughty has goals in each of the last two games. … Milan Lucic is riding a three-game assist streak. … The Kings are tied for the league lead with 7 wins when trailing entering the third period and rank 2nd with 15 wins when their opponent scores first.

Washington Projected Lines

Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – T.J. Oshie
Andre Buakovsky – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Justin Williams
Jason Chimera – Marcus Johansson – Tom Wilson
Daniel Winnik – Mike Richards – Jay Beagle

Karl Alzner – Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik – Dmitry Orlov
Mike Weber – Nate Schmidt

Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer

Notes and milestones: Lines via Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post. … Nicklas Backstrom is one goal shy of passing Kelly Miller (162) for 12th place on the Capitals’ all-time goals list. … Daniel Winnik is two points away from 200 in his career. … Washington played its 11th straight game decided by a one-goal margin in Monday’s 2-1 victory over Anaheim. … Washington’s 49 wins are tied for the second most victories through a team’s first 66 games of an NHL season (1995-96 Red Wings had 50). … Justin Williams registered 266 points (103-163=266) in 427 games with Los Angeles from 2008-15. He won two Stanley Cups with the Kings and was the Conn Smythe Trophy winner in 2014. … Mike Richards also won two Cups with the Kings and recorded 133 points (46-87=133) in 257 games with the team from 2011-15. … Evgeny Kuznetsov has 30 points in his last 25 games (7-23=30). … Alex Ovechkin has 11 points (5-6=11) in 12 career games against the Kings. … The Capitals are the only NHL team without two consecutive regulation losses this season.