-Good morning from El Segundo, Insiders. The Kings held an optional morning skate at Toyota Sports Center at 10:00 a.m. Jeff Carter didn’t take the ice, so Andy Andreoff skated in his slot alongside Tanner Pearson and Dustin Brown. No changes from yesterday’s forward lines are expected, though it is possible that there could be a change on the back end. Kevin Gravel left the ice with most of the players in the game group, though Matt Greene, Tom Gilbert and Andreoff weren’t very far behind. Expect extra defensemen to take the ice in warm-ups; it’s possible whether Greene or Gravel plays could be a decision made near game-time. Peter Budaj was the first goaltender to leave the ice and is expected to start against St. Louis.
-There’s nothing substantial to report on Jonathan Quick, who is continuing his off-ice work. Via hockey ops: “No update on him – continues to progress in his workouts – no ice timetable.” Quick suffered his groin injury three months ago today.
-Kings-Blues games are often compelling games despite both teams having emerged over the past decade as among the more successful defensive and checking teams in the NHL, and I’ll share some thoughts from Darryl Sutter and several players on tonight’s game later this afternoon. St. Louis has struggled to keep the puck out of its own net despite ranking fifth in the league in shots against per game at 27.9 (Los Angeles leads the league with 25.8 shots against per game), and their team-wide save percentage ranks 30th at .893. The Blues held a full-team morning skate at Staples Center this morning as they kick off a three-game California swing and aligned as such:
#stlblues lines
Steen-Stastny-Yakupov
Fabbri-Lehtera-Tarasenko
Schwartz-Berglund-Perron
Upshall-Brodziak-Reaves— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) January 12, 2017
#stlblues D pairs
Pietrangelo-Parayko
Bouwmeester-Shattenkirk
Edmundson-Bortuzzo— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) January 12, 2017
Jake Allen, who didn’t make it all the way through Tuesday’s 5-3 loss to Boston, is expected to draw the start tonight, via Jeremy Rutherford.
-I’ve heard only terrific things about tonight’s Kings Weekly, which will follow Kings Live post-game coverage. A preview:
Chris Sutter, seen here working at Old Venice in Manhattan Beach, has also worked at Viking Meats in his hometown. Catch tonight’s Kings Weekly (stick tap to Alex Curry and Jack Wilson for the great work) for the full story.
-I’m joining the NHL Network at 1:50 p.m. PT to talk Kings, so bear with a slight delay as I head downtown. Let’s talk soon, Insiders.
Morning skate photos, courtesy of Jon Bradley:
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