Game 69 Preview: Phoenix at Los Angeles

Los Angeles Kings (38-24-6) vs Phoenix Coyotes (32-25-11)
Monday, March 17, 2014, 7:30 p.m. PT
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #23 Brad Watson, #11 Kelly Sutherland
Linesmen: #79 Kiel Murchison, #65 Pierre Racicot
Fox Sports West, KEIB 1150 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2013-14 Season: 38 GP (38 GS) / 21-14-2 record / 2.05 GAA / .916 Sv% / 4 SHO
Career vs Phoenix: 28 (28) / 13-12-3 / 2.63 / .906 / 4
Last Game vs Phoenix: 1/28/14 / 60 MP / 26-29 shots / 0-3 L
2013-14, Home: 23 (23) / 13-9-1 / 2.19 / .906 / 2

Phoenix Projected Starting Goaltender – Mike Smith*
2013-14 Season: 58 GP (57 GS) /25-20-10 record / 2.66 GAA / .915 Sv% / 3 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 1 (1) / 0-1-0 / 2.06 / .917 / 0
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 10/29/13 / 60 MP / 41-42 shots / 3-1 W
2013-14, Away: 28 (28) / 9-11-7 / 2.83 / .913 / 0
*Smith did not skate this morning and Phoenix did not name a starting goalie. Smith, who has started eight consecutive games, likely used the morning for recovery.

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2013-14 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (21-35=56)
Goals: Jeff Carter (24-19=43)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (21-35=56)
Plus/Minus: Anze Kopitar (+25; 21-35=56)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (70; 3-3=6)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (25:57; 8-26=34)

2013-14 Phoenix Leaders
Total Points: Keith Yandle (7-40=47)
Goals: Antoine Vermette (22-20=42)
Assists: Keith Yandle (7-40=47)
Plus/Minus: Zbynek Mchalek (+9; 1-6=7)
Penalty Minutes: Martin Hanzal (71; 15-22=37)
Time On Ice: Oliver Ekman-Larsson (25:56; 11-25=36)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – t-27 / 2.34; PHX – 17 / 2.69
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 1 / 2.06; PHX – 17 / 2.76
Power Play: LAK – 25 / 14.9%; PHX – 9/ 20.2%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 11 / 83.1%; PHX – 27 / 79.2%
Shots/Game: LAK – 8 / 31.4; PHX – t-9 / 31.2
Shots Against/Game: LAK – t-2 / 26.4; PHX – 24 / 31.6
Faceoffs: LAK – 1 / 53.0%; PHX – 7 / 51.7%
Save Percentage: LAK – 2 / .922; PHX – t-13 / .913

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Los Angeles Projected Lines

Marian Gaborik – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams
Dwight King – Mike Richards – Jeff Carter
Tanner Pearson – Jarret Stoll – Tyler Toffoli
Kyle Clifford – Trevor Lewis – Jordan Nolan

Willie Mitchell – Drew Doughty
Robyn Regehr – Slava Voynov
Alec Martinez – Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: A. Jonathan Quick left the ice first, so he’s tonight’s projected starter. Dustin Brown took the ice following the team’s morning skate but isn’t yet ready to return. Jake Muzzin remained on the ice for extra work, so he’s the odd man out defensively. During brief line rushes at the end of the skate, Willie Mitchell took the first repetition with Drew Doughty, and Alec Martinez flipped back to his natural left side to skate with Matt Greene. Greene hasn’t played since the win in Colorado on February 26.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 79-95-32 all-time against the Phoenix franchise, a record that includes a home mark of 44-41-16. The Kings are 7-1-0 in their last eight home games against the Coyotes and have won the last three at Staples Center. The teams will conclude the season series in Los Angeles on April 2. … With 170 career wins, Jonathan Quick is one win behind Rogie Vachon’s club record 171 wins in a Kings uniform. … Darryl Sutter has amassed 499 career wins, tying Terry Murray for 18th place on the NHL’s all-time list. He trails Toe Blake (500) by one win and Pat Burns (501) by two wins. With 1,025 games coached, he trails his brother Brian Sutter (1,028) by three games for 17th place on the NHL’s all-time regular season games coached list. … The Kings have allowed 10 even strength goals, six power play goals and one shorthanded goal over the last 10 games. … Los Angeles is 7-for-28 on the power play over the last nine games and 22-for-24 on the penalty kill, dating back to the third period in Colorado on February 26. … The Kings have 193 shots in the last five games (38.6 shots per game average). Their record in games in which they outshoot their opponents by at least 10 shots is 10-7-3. … Los Angeles has identical 19-12-3 records at home and on the road. … The Kings have been shorthanded three times or less in seven straight games. … Anze Kopitar has 13 points (5-8=13) in the last 11 games. He has 47 points (14-33=47) in 47 career games against Phoenix. … Marian Gaborik has 28 points (20-8=28) in 29 career games against Phoenix. … Mike Richards has four points (2-2=4) and a minus-2 rating in his last 17 games. … Alec Martinez has six points (3-3=6) in the last seven games. In his first 40 games, Martinez had seven points (4-3=7). … Justin Williams is scheduled to play his 199th consecutive game tonight.

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Phoenix Projected Lines

Mikkel Boedker – Antoine Vermette – Radim Vrbata
Brandon McMillan – Mike Ribeiro – Shane Doan
Lauri Korpikoski – Jeff Halpern – David Moss
Rob Klinkhammer – Kyle Chipchura – Paul Bissonnette

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Zbynek Michalek
Keith Yandle – Derek Morris
Chris Summers – Michael Stone

Mike Smith
Thomas Greiss

Notes and milestones: Lines via Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic … Forwards Martin Hanzal (lower-body) and Martin Erat (upper-body) remained on for extra work after the morning skate and are unlikely to play, though Head Coach Dave Tippett deemed Hanzal “available.” … Mike Smith has started the last eight games for the Coyotes, In his last 13 games, he is 7-5-1 with a 1.84 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage. … Phoenix is one of two teams (Minnesota) yet to be involved in a penalty shot, for or against. … Keith Yandle has 12 points (1-11=12) in his last 12 games. With 47 points, he leads the Coyotes in scoring, joining Shea Weber (43 points) and Erik Karlsson (60 points) as defensemen to lead their team in points. … In 95 career games against Los Angeles, Shane Doan has 75 points (36-39=75), his highest point total versus any NHL team. He has eight goals in his last nine games against the Kings. Last Thursday, Doan became the fourth active player to play in 1,300 NHL games, joining Jaromir Jagr, Teemu Selanne and Ray Whitney. Jarome Iginla is scheduled to play in his 1,300th game tonight. … Antoine Vermette ranks 10th in the NHL with a 56.1 faceoff percentage. His 57.2% road faceoff percentage ranks second in the NHL, trailing only Vladimir Sobotka of St. Louis. … Jeff Halpern appeared in 22 regular season and playoff games for Los Angeles in 2009-10, totaling two assists and a minus-two rating.

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