Game 50 Preview: Los Angeles at Washington

Los Angeles Kings (21-16-12) at Washington Capitals (25-15-10)
Tuesday, February 3, 2015, 4:00 p.m. PT
Verizon Center, Washington DC
Referees: #10 Paul Devorski, #32 Tom Kowal
Linesmen: #57 Jay Sharrers, #77 Tim Nowak
Fox Sports West, Sportsnet, KABC 790 AM

Los Angeles Kings v Washington Capitals

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2014-15: 41 GP (40 GS) / 17-13-10 record / 2.47 GAA / .912 Sv% / 3 SHO
Career vs Washington: 4 (4) / 4-0-0 / 2.41 / .917 / 2
Last Game vs Washington: 3/25/14 / 65 MP / 23-27 / 5-4 W
2014-15, Away: 16 (16) / 3-8-5 / 2.84 / .902 / 0

Washington Projected Starting Goaltender – Braden Holtby
2014-15: 43 GP (42 GS) / 23-10-9 record / 2.22 GAA / .923 Sv% / 5 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: First appearance
Last Game vs Los Angeles: First appearance
2014-15, Home: 20 (20) / 11-4-4 / 2.17 / .922 / 2

Detroit Red Wings v Washington Capitals

2014-15 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (11-27=38)
Goals: Marian Gaborik (15-12=27)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (11-27=38)
Plus/Minus: Tyler Toffoli (+15; 13-16=29)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (50; 2-7=9)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (29:23; 4-26=30)
Corsi-For Percentage: Trevor Lewis (57.9%; 6-5=11)

2014-15 Washington Leaders
Total Points: Nicklas Backstrom (15-37=52)
Goals: Alex Ovechkin (31-17=48)
Assists: Nicklas Backstrom (15-37=52)
Plus/Minus: John Carlson (+12; 5-30=35), Eric Fehr (+12; 8-23=31)
Penalty Minutes: Tom Wilson (90; 2-9=11)
Time On Ice: John Carlson (23:17; 5-30=35)
Corsi-For Percentage: Andre Burakovsky (54.8%; 7-12=19)

Los Angeles Kings v Washington Capitals

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – t-16 / 2.71; WSH – 9 / 2.92
Goals Against/Game: LAK – t-12 / 2.55; WSH – t-8 / 2.50
Power Play: LAK – 10 / 19.5%; WSH – 3 / 23.5%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 25 / 77.8%; WSH – t-18 / 80.7%
Shots/Game: LAK – t-8 / 31.1; WSH – t-13 / 30.1
Shots Against/Game: LAK – t-6 / 27.6; WSH – t-12/ 28.9
Faceoffs: LAK – t-10 / 51.2%; WSH – 9 / 51.4%
Save Percentage: LAK – t-20 / .908; WSH – t-10 / .913
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – t-2 / 54.4%; WSH – 12 / 51.4%

Tampa Bay Lightning v Washington Capitals

Los Angeles Projected Lines

Marian Gaborik – Anze Kopitar – Dustin Brown
Dwight King – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Kyle Clifford – Jarret Stoll – Justin Williams
Trevor Lewis – Andy Andreoff – Jordan Nolan

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Robyn Regehr – Alec Martinez
Brayden McNabb – Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: B-. The main question is likely whether Andy Andreoff or Nick Shore suits up tonight. Shore skated through the fourth line’s first rotation in line rushes, though he also remained on for extra work with Jamie McBain and Martin Jones, whereas Andreoff left the ice earlier. Should Andreoff play, Trevor Lewis could also skate as a center on the Lewis-Andreoff-Nolan line, though he skated as a wing through line rushes.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 55-32-15 all-time against Washington, a record that includes an away mark of 24-18-8. The Kings are 7-0-2 in their last nine road games in the series, dating back to April 4, 1998, and 8-1-1 in the last 10 games overall against the Capitals. Goal scorers in the 3-2 loss on April 4, 1998 included Steve McKenna, Garry Galley, Peter Bondra, Steve Konowalchuk and Esa Tikkanen. Los Angeles has won three straight road games for the fifth time in the series’ history but has never won four straight games at Washington. The two teams will conclude the season series on February 14 at Staples Center. … The Kings won both games last season against the Capitals in shootouts, a 2-1 win in Los Angeles on March 20 and a 5-4 win in Washington on March 25. … The Kings are 7-9-3 against the Eastern Conference and 2-5-2 against the Metropolitan Division. … Los Angeles is 6-6-12 in one-goal games and 2-12 when games extend past 60 minutes. … The Kings are 18-4-4 when allowing two goals or less and 14-2-7 when scoring the game’s first goal. … In the 25 games since December 1, the Kings have recorded a 57.2% Corsi-for percentage in five-on-five play (1226 Corsi for / 917 Corsi against). … Over the last 25 games, Los Angeles has been outscored 71-69 (excluding shootout goals). The Kings have scored at least three goals in 12 of their last 21 games. … Los Angeles leads the league with 1,606 total team hits. … Anze Kopitar (two) and Jeff Carter (two) have combined for four road goals this season. … With six goals and 18 assists, Jake Muzzin is one goal and one assist from his career-highs in goals (seven) and assists (19), and is one point from surpassing his career-high in points (24). … With 98 goals as a King, Justin Williams is two goals shy of 100. … With 199 all-time shutouts, Los Angeles is one shutout shy of 200 in franchise history. … Anze Kopitar has 10 points (7-3-10) in eight career games against Washington. … Kyle Clifford has three points (2-1=3) in four career games against Washington. … Jarret Stoll has seven points (2-5=7) in eight career games against Washington.

Calgary Flames v Washington Capitals

Washington Projected Lines

Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Marcus Johansson
Brooks Laich – Eric Fehr – Joel Ward
Andre Burakovsky – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Troy Brouwer
Aaron Volpatti – Jay Beagle – Tom Wilson

Brooks Orpik – John Carlson
Karl Alzner – Matt Niskanen
Jack Hillen – Mike Green

Braden Holtby
Justin Peters

Notes and milestones: Lines via NHL.com correspondent Adam Vingan … Via Vingan, Washington will be without Dmitry Orlov (wrist) and John Erskine (neck surgery), while Jason Chimera and Michael Latta are expected to be scratched. … Aaron Volpatti, activated from injured reserve, is expected to make his season debut. … The Capitals are 6-8-3 against the Western Conference and 2-4-3 against the Pacific Division. … With two goals on Sunday, Alex Ovechkin (31 goals) became the fifth player in league history to record at least 30 goals in each of his first 10 seasons, joining Mike Gartner (first 15 seasons), Wayne Gretzky (13), Jari Kurri (10) and Mike Bossy (10). Ovechkin has four multi-goal games in his last seven games and has scored 15 goals in his last 15 games. He is tied for the league lead in goals (31) and power play goals(14). His 248 shots are 44 more shots than Tyler Seguin, who ranks second with 204 shots. Ovechkin was the NHL’s First Star of January. … With 545 career points, Nicklas Backstrom ranks two points behind Mike Ridley (547 points) for seventh place on Washington’s all-time scoring registry. Since he entered the NHL in 2007-08, Backstrom ranks third in the league in assists (404), trailing Henrik Sedin (451) and Joe Thornton (433). … Mike Green has eight points (1-7=8) in his last seven games and ranks seventh amongst NHL defensemen in assists (26) and 13th in points (31). … Capitals defensemen have earned a point in 18 of the last 20 games and rank third in the NHL in points by defensemen (113), trailing Calgary (124) and Nashville (124). Washington defensemen combined for 140 points last season, ranking tied for 22nd in the league. … Troy Brouwer is expected to play his 500th career game tonight. … The Capitals are 8-1-2 in their last 11 home games. … Alex Ovechkin has nine points (4-5=9) in nine career games against Los Angeles.

Tampa Bay Lightning v Washington Capitals

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