Debut day for Voynov

The big day has arrived for defenseman Slava Voynov, who will make his NHL debut tonight. Voynov, a second-round draft pick in 2008, dealt with injuries early in his pro career but was an AHL All-Star last season and earned strong reviews last month for his efforts in training camp and preseason games. With Drew Doughty out of the lineup, Voynov is expected to play a major role, both at even strength and on the power play, and he will partner with Wilie Mitchell (along with pairs of Scuderi-Johnson and Martinez-Greene). Terry Murray said he wouldn’t be concerned about Voynov’s ability to handle the NHL…

MURRAY: “I don’t think he’s going to have any problems doing that, quite honestly. He’s a player that has been at an elite level of hockey throughout his whole life, just about. Playing back at home in Russia and playing here in North America, I think his game has really improved. He’s a first(-team) All-Star player last year in the American Hockey League. He carried that right through to the training camp and showed great awareness on the ice. A very intelligent guy. Makes good decisions with and without the puck. That’s just the way he is. That’s the game that he brings, and I’ll let him go play. I have a lot of confidence that he will be under control and doing the right things out there tonight.’’

Question: Will he get some power-play time tonight as well?

MURRAY: “Absolutely, yeah. That’s a big part of his game, is the play with the puck on his stick and reading off of players who have the puck on their sticks. So we saw it in the training camp, when he scored. That’s part of the reason we bring a player like that up, with Doughty out of the lineup. We need to find someone who can give us that kind of a look on the special-teams situations.’’