Game 53 Preview: Los Angeles at Columbus

Los Angeles Kings (22-18-12) at Columbus Blue Jackets (23-25-3)
Monday, February 9, 2015, 4:00 p.m. PT
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
Referees: #24 Graham Skilliter, #13 Dan O’Halloran
Linesmen: #82 Ryan Galloway, #75 Derek Arnell
Fox Sports West, Sportsnet, KABC 790 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2014-15: 44 GP (43 GS) / 18-15-10 record / 2.51 GAA / .910 Sv% / 3 SHO
Career vs Columbus: 17 (17) / 12-5-0 / 1.94 / .918 / 2
Last Game vs Columbus: 10/26/14 / 60 MP / 22-24 / 5-2 W
2014-15, Away: 19 (19) / 4-10-5 / 2.87 / .899 / 0

Columbus Projected Starting Goaltender – Curtis McElhinney
2014-15: 20 GP (16 GS) / 7-8-1 record / 2.77 GAA / .915 Sv% / 0 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 5 (3) / 1-1-1 / 2.16 / .920 / 0
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 12/26/11 / 12 MP / 6-6 / 3-4 L
2014-15, Home: 8 (6) / 3-4-0 / 3.07 / .901 / 0

2014-15 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (11-29=40)
Goals: Marian Gaborik (16-14=30)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (11-29=40)
Plus/Minus: Tyler Toffoli (+15; 14-16=30)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (52; 2-7=9)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (29:21; 5-26=31)
Corsi-For Percentage: Anze Kopitar (57.4%; 11-29=40), Jake Muzzin (57.4%; 6-19=25)

2014-15 Columbus Leaders
Total Points: Nick Foligno (21-28=49), Ryan Johansen (20-29=49)
Goals: Nick Foligno (21-28=49)
Assists: Ryan Johansen (20-29=49)
Plus/Minus: Nick Foligno (+10; 21-28=49)
Penalty Minutes: Scott Harnell (69; 12-21=33)
Time On Ice: Jack Johnson (23:52; 5-20=25
Corsi-For Percentage: Brandon Dubinsky (52.8%; 3-11=14)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – t-19 / 2.67; CBJ – 23 / 2.51
Goals Against/Game: LAK – t-14 / 2.58; CBJ – 26 / 3.06
Power Play: LAK – 12 / 19.5%; CBJ – 5 / 22.9%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 26 / 78.0%; CBJ – 20 / 80.1%
Shots/Game: LAK – 9 / 31.0; CBJ – 27 / 27.7
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 5 / 27.5; CBJ – 28/ 3.28
Faceoffs: LAK – t-8 / 51.4%; CBJ – 23 / 48.1%
Save Percentage: LAK – t-22 / .906; CBJ – 21 / .907
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – 1 / 54.3%; CBJ – 27 / 46.3%

Los Angeles Projected Lineup

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

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Robyn Regehr – Jamie McBain
Brayden McNabb – Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lineup: B-. The forward group should be fine, but there will likely be mixing and matching on the back end. Robyn Regehr didn’t skate this morning, though Darryl Sutter said “Yeah. Yeah. He skated yesterday” when asked whether he was taking the morning off. Brayden McNabb and Matt Greene have played together fairly frequently, so they’re listed together. Jonathan Quick left the ice first at the morning skate, while Andy Andreoff and Martin Jones remained on the ice for extra work.

Notes and milestones: The Kings are 28-18-4 all-time against the Blue Jackets, a record that includes a road mark of 11-10-3. Los Angeles is 7-3-0 overall in the last 10 games played against Columbus and 6-4-0 in the last 10 games played in Columbus. … Los Angeles is 8-11-3 against the Eastern Conference and 2-6-2 against the Metropolitan Division. … The Kings are 6-7-12 in one-goal games this season. … In the 18 games Jamie McBain has played, the Kings are 15-for-58 on the power play (25.9%). In the 34 games he hasn’t played, the Kings are 19-for-116 on the power play (16.4%). Los Angeles’ power play ranks 12th overall at 19.5%. … The Kings are 6-12-6 on the road (.375 points percentage). Since the introduction of the overtime loss point in 1999-00, the only season in which they generated a points percentage on the road lower than .375 was in 2006-07 (11-25-5 / 27 points / .329 points percentage). … Los Angeles has the 22nd ranked power play on the road at 13.7% and is 28th in penalty killing on the road at 73.6%. … The Kings lead the league with 1,717 team hits. … In three games at Nationwide Arena since he was traded to the Kings, Jeff Carter has two goals and a minus-two rating. He has 11 points (6-5=11) in 11 career games against the Blue Jackets. … Anze Kopitar has 28 points (13-15=28) in 28 career games against Columbus. … Drew Doughty has 21 points (4-17=21) in 22 career games against Columbus. … This is Marian Gaborik’s first game in Columbus since he was traded to Los Angeles last March. In 25 career games against the Blue Jackets, he has 23 points (13-10=23). … Tyler Toffoli has four points (1-3=4) in two career games against Columbus.

Columbus Projected Lineup:

Scott Hartnell – Ryan Johansen – Cam Atkinson
Nick Foligno – Brandon Dubinsky – Corey Tropp
Artem Anisimov – Alexander Wennberg – Jack Skille
Matt Calvert – Mark Letestu – Jared Boll

Jack Johnson – David Savard
Kevin Connauton – Fedor Tyutin
Cody Goloubef – Jordan Leopold

Curtis McElhinney
Anton Forsberg

Notes and Milestones: Lines via NHL.com correspondent Craig Merz … Defensemen Ryan Murray (ankle), James Wisniewski (lower body) and Dalton Prout (upper body), forwards Boone Jenner (back), Brian Gibbons (knee), Jeremy Morin (heart), Nathan Horton (back) and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (groin) are out, per Merz. Columbus has already lost 324 man-games to injury this season. … Columbus is 9-10-0 against the Western Conference this season and 3-5-0 against the Pacific Division. … Scott Hartnell will be playing in his 1,000th career NHL game. … Columbus earned its 1,000th career point on Saturday with a 4-1 win at Ottawa. … Columbus is 13-6-3 in one-goal games this season. … The Blue Jackets have a 23-6-3 record when they are tied or leading after the second period.