Beasts vs. East

It’s a West-East matchup tonight, which could be good news for the Kings. The Kings are 13-3 this season against Eastern Conference teams — the most wins for any West team against the East — while the Canadiens are 4-9-2 against Western Conference teams. Montreal is coming off a loss to San Jose two nights ago. The Canadiens are technically 10th in the East, even though they’re tied, in points, for eighth. They have more games played than the other two teams. Here’s what Terry Murray said about the matchup against Montreal…

MURRAY: “There’s a lot of desparation by everybody right now, to get more points on the board. We know that the Montreal Canadiens are going to come in here and play a very intense, desparate game, as we do. We need to do the same thing. Matching each other’s intensity in the first period is going to be critical, so you’re not going to get caught off guard. You’re going to come into the game emotionally prepared the right way, to do the right things. And manage the puck the right way.

“Any time that I’ve coached against Jacques, it’s really hard to get through the middle of the ice. You’ve got to make sure you’re doing the right thing with hard decisions, get it through the middle of the ice and then you’re allowed to play your game. Most importantly, be prepared to execute.”