Game 55 Preview: Los Angeles vs Washington

Los Angeles Kings (24-18-12) vs Washington Capitals (29-16-10)
Saturday, February 14, 2015, 7:00 p.m. PT
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #38 Francois St. Laurent, #16 Brian Pochmara
Linesmen: #88 Mike Cvik, #74 Lonnie Cameron
Fox Sports West, Sportsnet, KABC 790 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2014-15: 46 GP (45 GS) / 20-15-10 record / 2.53 GAA / .908 Sv% / 3 SHO
Career vs Washington: 5 (5) / 4-1-0 / 2.71 / .905 / 0
Last Game vs Washington: 2/3/15 / 60 MP / 23-27 / 0-4 L
2014-15, Home: 26 (25) / 15-5-5 / 2.25 / .917 / 3

Washington Projected Starting Goaltender – Braden Holtby
2014-15: 47 GP (46 GS) / 26-11-9 record / 2.18 GAA / .924 Sv% / 6 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 1 (1) / 1-0-0 / 0.00 / 1.000 / 1
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 2/3/15 / 60 MP / 27-27 / 4-0 W
2014-15, Away: 25 (24) / 14-6-5 / 2.28 / .923 / 3

2014-15 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Jeff Carter (15-26=41)
Goals: Tyler Toffoli (18-17=35)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (11-29=40)
Plus/Minus: Tyler Toffoli (+19; 18-17=35)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (64; 2-7=9)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (29:22; 5-27=32)
Corsi-For Percentage: Anze Kopitar (58.2%; 11-29=40)

2014-15 Washington Leaders
Total Points: Nicklas Backstrom (16-41=57)
Goals: Alex Ovechkin (33-19=52)
Assists: Nicklas Backstrom (16-41=57)
Plus/Minus: John Carlson (+16: 7-31=38)
Penalty Minutes: Tom Wilson (96; 2-10=12)
Time On Ice: John Carlson (23:17: 7-31=38)
Corsi-For Percentage: Alex Ovechkin (54.3%; 33-19=52)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – 16 / 2.74; WSH – t-8 / 2.91
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 13 / 2.59; WSH – t-7 / 2.46
Power Play: LAK – 12 / 19.2%; WSH – 4 / 23.5%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 27 / 78.0%; WSH – t-19 / 80.0%
Shots/Game: LAK – 6 / 31.5; WSH – 17 / 29.8
Shots Against/Game: LAK – t-3 / 27.3; WSH – 9 / 28.7
Faceoffs: LAK – t-10 / 51.3%; WSH – 13 / 51.0%
Save Percentage: LAK – t-23 / .905; WSH – t-9 / .914
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – 1 / 54.9%; WSH – 13 / 51.4%

Los Angeles Projected Lines

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

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

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: A-. All skaters left the ice at the same time, so it wasn’t possible to get a firm indication of tonight’s scratches. Line rushes indicated that there aren’t likely to be changes made from Thursday. Jonathan Quick was the first goalie off the ice and is expected to start in net. Alec Martinez (concussion-like symptoms) hasn’t resumed skating, while Tanner Pearson (broken lower fibula) remains on injured reserve.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 55-33-15 all-time against Washington, a record that includes a home mark of 31-14-7. The Kings are 7-2-1 in their last 10 home games against the Capitals, a record that includes a current four-game winning streak. The last Staples Center Kings loss in the series was a 3-2 setback on December 14, 2005, a game in which Jamie Heward (x2) and Brian Sutherby scored for Washington, and Eric Belanger and Sean Avery scored for Los Angeles. … With 40 points at home this season (17-6-6), the Kings have the most points through 29 home games in franchise history (previously 39; 2010-11, 2005-06, 1974-75). … With 122 wins as the Kings’ head coach, Darryl Sutter is tied with Larry Robinson for fourth place on the club’s all-time wins list. … Los Angeles leads the league with 1,785 hits. … Justin Williams is expected to play his 400th game as a King. … With 17 assists, Tyler Toffoli is one assist from surpassing his career high (17 / 2013-14). He has goals in three straight games (5-1=6). … With six goals, Jake Muzzin is one goal from tying his career high (7 / 2012-13). … Jeff Carter has five points (1-4=5) in the last two games. Los Angeles is 12-0-0 when Carter records more than one point. … Dwight King has recorded multi-point performances in consecutive years for the first time in his NHL career. … With 199 shutouts, the Kings are one shutout shy of 200 in franchise history. … Anze Kopitar has 10 points (7-3=10) in nine career games against Washington.

Washington Projected Lines

Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Marcus Johansson
Jason Chimera – Evgeni Kuznetsov – Troy Brouwer
Brooks Laich – Eric Fehr – Joel Ward
Aaron Volpatti – Jay Beagle – Tom Wilson

Brooks Orpik – John Carlson
Karl Alzner – Matt Niskanen
Steve Oleksy – Mike Green

Braden Holtby
Justin Peters

Notes and milestones: Lines via Mike Vogel of WashingtonCaps.com … Washington is 1-0-0 on a four-game road trip that will continue in Anaheim (Sunday) and Pittsburgh (Tuesday). The Capitals defeated the Sharks 5-4 on Joel Ward’s overtime game-winner on Wednesday. … Forward Jay Beagle has set career-highs in goals (9), assists (8) and points (17) this season. … Defenseman John Carlson has set career-highs in assists (31) and points (38). Carlson ranks fifth in the league amongst United States-born skaters with 31 assists. … In his last six starts, Braden Holtby is 4-1-1 with two shutouts, a 1.32 goals-against average and .951 save percentage. He is the third goalie in Capitals history to record at least six shutouts in one season, joining Jim Carey (9 / 1995-96) and Olaf Kolzig (6 / 2001-02). Since the start of 2012-13, Holtby and Boston’s Tuukka Rask rank tied for first in the league with 14 shutouts. … Washington has averaged 3.1 goals per game over their last 10 road games and are 14-9-5 on the road this season. … Alex Ovechkin has 10 points (4-6=10) in 10 career games against Los Angeles. … Since entering the league in 2007-08, Nicklas Backstrom ranks third with 408 assists, trailing Henrik Sedin (454) and Joe Thornton (437).