Game 6 Preview: Los Angeles vs Minnesota

Los Angeles Kings (3-1-1) vs Minnesota Wild (2-1-0)
Sunday, October 19, 2014, 12:00 p.m. PT
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #34 Brad Meier, #27 Eric Furlatt
Linesmen: #91 Don Henderson, #50 Scott Cherrey
FOX Sports West, KABC 790 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2014-15: 4 GP (4 GS) / 2-1-1 record / 2.09 GAA / .944 Sv% / 1 SHO
Career vs Minnesota: 15 (15) / 8-4-3 / 2.48 / .895 / 0
Last Game vs Minnesota: 3/31/14 / 59 MP / 17-20 shots / 2-3 L
2014-15, Home: 3 (3) / 2-1-0 / 1.82 / .951 / 1

Minnesota Projected Starting Goaltender – Niklas Backstrom
2014-15: First game
Career vs Los Angeles: 20 (19) / 8-6-4 / 2.41 / .912 / 2
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 10/3/13 / 65 MP / 16-18 shots / 2-3 SOL
2014-15, Away: First game

2014-15 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Tanner Pearson (4-2=6)
Goals: Tanner Pearson (4-2=6)
Assists: Tyler Toffoli (2-3=5)
Plus/Minus: Jeff Carter (+8; 3-2=5), Tyler Toffoli (+8; 2-3=5)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (12; 0-0=0)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (26:53; 0-2=2)
Corsi-For Percentage: Alec Martinez (56.6%; 0-1=1)

2014-15 Minnesota Leaders
Total Points: Zach Parise (2-2=4)
Goals: Zach Parise (2-2=4), Jason Zucker (2-0=2)
Assists: Zach Parise (2-2=4), Ryan Suter (1-2=3), Mikael Granlund (0-2=2)
Plus/Minus: Zach Parise (+5; 2-2=4). Jonas Brodin (+5; 0-1=1)
Penalty Minutes: Zach Parise (17; 2-2=4)
Time On Ice: Ryan Suter (27:31; 1-2=3)
Corsi-For Percentage: Zach Parise (71.0%; 2-2=4)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – t-20 / 2.40; MIN – t-11 / 3.00
Goals Against/Game: LAK – t-6 / 1.80; MIN – 1 / 0.67
Power Play: LAK – 25 / 5.6%; MIN – t-27 / 0.0%
Penalty Kill: LAK – t-15 / 82.4%; MIN – t-1 / 100.0%
Shots/Game: LAK – 26 / 27.0; MIN – 3 / 36.7
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 26 / 35.0; MIN – 3 / 24.0
Faceoffs: LAK – t-22 / 47.9%; MIN – 5 / 53.6%
Save Percentage: LAK – t-2 / .949; MIN – 1 / .972
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – 22 / 48.4%; MIN – 3 / 56.8%

Los Angeles Projected Lineup

Mike Richards – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams
Tanner Pearson – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Dwight King – Jarret Stoll – Dustin Brown
Kyle Clifford – Andy Andreoff – Jordan Nolan

Brayden McNabb – Drew Doughty
Robyn Regehr – Slava Voynov
Alec Martinez – Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: A. The Kings have 18 healthy skaters; all will play against Minnesota. Jonathan Quick left the ice first at yesterday’s practice and is expected to draw the start.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 22-15-3 all-time against Minnesota, a record that includes an 11-8-6 home record. The Kings have lost two straight games at home to the Wild (0-1-1), while six of the last seven games between the teams have been decided by one goal. … This is the only game between these two teams at Staples Center; after today, they’ll meat at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on November 26 and March 28. … Trevor Lewis (IR), Jake Muzzin and Marian Gaborik won’t play for the Kings. … Los Angeles is 3-0-0 in their six-game homestand (10/12 LAK 4, WPG 1; 10/14 LAK 6, EDM 1; 10/16 LAK 1 STL 0 (SHO); 10/19 MIN; 10/23 BUF; 10/26 CBJ). … After today’s game, the Kings will play six consecutive games against the Eastern Conference. Their next game against the West will take place at Dallas on November 4. … Los Angeles has killed nine consecutive penalties, spanning three games. … The Kings are 1-15 on the power play this season. … With his 32nd career shutout on Thursday, Jonathan Quick tied Rogie Vachon for first place on the club’s all-time list. Quick has stopped 74-of-75 shots over the last two games. … Over their three-game winning streak, Kings goalies have stopped 103-of-105 shots for a .981 save percentage. … The line of Jeff Carter, Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli have combined for 16 points (9-7=16) and a plus-22 rating over the last four games, though they were held without a point in Thursday’s 1-0 shootout win over St. Louis. … With 97 points (62-35=97) since his trade to Los Angeles, Carter is three points shy of 100 with the Kings. … With 28 career game-winning goals, Anze Kopitar is one GWG from surpassing Butch Goring and Mike Murphy and tying Rob Blake for fourth place on the club’s game-winning goal list. … With 27 career game-winning goals, Dustin Brown is GWG from tying Kopitar, Goring and Murphy for fifth place on the club’s game-winning goal list. … With 197 points as a King (75-122=197), Jarret Stoll is three points shy of 200 with the club. … Anze Kopitar has 26 points (8-18=26) in 30 career games against Minnesota. … Los Angeles is 7-7-1 in afternoon games under Darryl Sutter.

Minnesota Projected Lines

Thomas Vanek – Mikko Koivu – Justin Fontaine
Zach Parise – Mikael Granlund – Jason Pominville
Nino Niederreiter – Erik Haula – Charlie Coyle
Matt Cooke – Ryan Carter – Jason Zucker

Ryan Suter – Jonas Brodin
Jared Spurgeon – Marco Scandella
Nate Prosser – Christian Folin

Niklas Backstrom
Darcy Kuemper

Notes and milestones: Minnesota plays a total of four games in the first 15 days of the season. … Marian Gaborik is the Wild’s all-time franchise leader in goals (219), plus-minus rating (plus-54), PPG (59), GWG (43), shots (1,694) and second in points (437) in 502 games. He was selected by Minnesota with the third overall pick in the 2000 Entry Draft. … A pair of Minnesota assistant coaches have histories with Los Angeles. Rick Wilson spent three seasons as a Kings assistant coach (1989-92), while Darryl Sydor spent his first five NHL seasons with the Kings (1991-96), who drafted him seventh overall in 1990. … Newport Beach-born and Las Vegas-raised Jason Zucker has a two-game goal streak. … Niklas Backstrom is expected to start his first game since January 30, 2014. His 2013-14 season ended prematurely due to abdominal and hip surgeries. … Darcy Kuemper (not expected to start) set a franchise record with a 163:46 shutout streak through Minnesota’s first three games. After posting back-to-back shutouts over Colorado to start the season, the streak ended 4:02 into the third period in Anaheim on Friday as the Ducks rallied for two goals in a 2-1 win. … Mikko Koivu has 24 points (5-19=24) in 27 career games against the Kings. … Jason Pominville has 11 points (3-8=11) in 11 career games against the Kings.