Game 73 Preview: Los Angeles at New York

Los Angeles Kings (35-22-13) at New York Rangers (46-18-7)
Tuesday, March 24, 2015, 4:00 p.m. PT
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Referees: #8 Dave Jackson, #5 Chris Rooney
Linesmen: #92 Mark Shewchyk, #56 Mark Wheler
NBC Sports Network, Sportsnet, KABC 790 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2014-15: 63 GP (62 GS) / 31-19-12 record / 2.27 GAA / .916 Sv% / 6 SHO
Career vs New York: 4 (4) / 2-2-0 / 2.48 / .901 / 0
Last Game vs New York: 1/8/15 / 59 MP / 22-26 shots / 3-4 L
2014-15, Away: 28 (28) / 11-11-6 / 2.58 / .907 / 1

New York Projected Starting Goaltender – Cam Talbot
2014-15: 32 GP (30 GS) / 19-7-4 record / 2.13 GAA / .929 Sv% / 5 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 1 (1) / 1-0-0 / 3.00 / .903 / 0
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 1/8/15 / 60 MP / 28-31 shots / 4-3 W
2014-15, Home: 15 (13) / 9-1-3 / 1.64 / .943 / 3

2014-15 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (15-42=57)
Goals: Jeff Carter (25-28=53)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (15-42=57)
Plus/Minus: Tyler Toffoli (+20; 21-21=42)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (83; 6-7=13)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (29:17; 5-36=41)
Corsi-For Percentage: Anze Kopitar (58.5%; 15-42=57)

2014-15 New York Leaders
Total Points: Rick Nash (39-24=63)
Goals: Rick Nash (39-24=63)
Assists: Derick Brassard (15-39=54)
Plus/Minus: Rick Nash (+24; 39-24=63), Kevin Klein (+24; 9-17=26)
Penalty Minutes: Chris Kreider (86; 18-19=37)
Time On Ice: Ryan McDonagh (23:08; 7-18=25)
Corsi-For Percentage: Dan Boyle (54.3%; 8-8=16)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – 18 / 2.64; NYR – 3 / 3.00
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 6 / 2.41; NYR – t-2 / 2.22
Power Play: LAK – 11 / 19.1%; NYR – 21 / 17.5%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 13 / 81.6%; NYR – 8 / 83.5%
Shots/Game: LAK – 13 / 30.7; NYR – 4 / 31.5
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 1 / 27.0; NYR – 15 / 29.5
Faceoffs: LAK – 12 / 51.4%; NYR – 29 / 46.7%
Save Percentage: LAK – 14 / .911; NYR – 3/ .925
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – 1 / 54.8%; NYR – 19 / 49.9%

Los Angeles Projected Lines

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

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Robyn Regehr – Andrej Sekera
Alec Martinez – Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: B. The top two lines should be accurate, though it’s possible that there will be adjustments made within the Nick Shore and Mike Richards lines. Last night, the Kings started with a Clifford-Richards-Lewis and Brown-Shore-Nolan alignment before evolving to the lines shown above. Last night’s scratches and Tanner Pearson skated this morning with Martin Jones. Because Jones remained on the ice for a lengthy skate, it is expected that Jonathan Quick will start both games of a back-to-back set for the first time since December 29 and 30, when he stopped 32 of 36 total shots between a 2-1 regulation loss in Calgary and a 3-2 shootout loss in Edmonton.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 45-64-19 all-time against New York, a record that includes an away mark of 19-36-7. The Kings are 4-4-2 in their last 10 trips to Madison Square Garden (with one tie). … Los Angeles is 14-12-4 against the Eastern Conference and 5-6-3 against the Metropolitan Division. … The Kings have registered a power play goal in seven of their last nine games. The power play is 8-for-26 over that span. … Los Angeles has killed off 47 of the last 50 penalties dating back to David Jones’ second period goal in the 5-3 win over Calgary on February 12. … The Kings are 2-4-1 on the second game of back-to-back sets. … Dating back to February 7, Jonathan Quick is 14-4-2 with a 1.73 GAA, .932 Sv% and three shutouts (1182:32 min / 502 shots against / 468 saves). … Anze Kopitar has 12 points (3-9=12) in his last 10 games. By playing his 674th career game tonight, he’ll move past Mike Murphy into sole possession of eighth place on the club’s all time list of games played. … With 198 career assists, Drew Doughty is two assists shy of 200 in his career. … Marian Gaborik has 11 points (8-3=11) in 11 career games against New York. In 255 games over four seasons with the Rangers between 2009-13, he registered 229 points (114-115=229). He is the last Ranger to record at least 40 goals in a season (41 in 2011-12). Rick Nash currently has 39 goals.

New York Projected Lineup

Chris Kreider – Derek Stepan – Rick Nash
J.T. Miller – Derick Brassard – Mats Zuccarello
Carl Hagelin – Kevin Hayes – Jesper Fast
Tanner Glass – Dominic Moore – James Sheppard

Dan Girardi – Ryan McDonagh
Marc Staal – Dan Boyle
Keith Yandle – Matt Hunwick

Cam Talbot
Mackenzie Skapski

Notes and milestones: Lines via NHL.com Senior Writer Dan Rosen … New York is expected to be without Henrik Lundqvist (neck / IR), Martin St. Louis (lower-body) and Kevin Klein (upper-body). … The Rangers are 19-3-3 in their last 25 games. … Six Hall of Famers played for both New York and Los Angeles, including Wayne Gretzky, Terry Sawchuk, Marcel Dionne, Luc Robitaille, Harry Howell and Jari Kurri. Roger Neilson, in the Hall of Fame as a Builder, coached both teams. … The Rangers are 27-for-30 on the penalty kill over the last 11 games. … With 99 points, New York is one point away from reaching the 100-point plateau for the eighth time in franchise history. … The Rangers are the only team to rank in the top five in goals per game and goals against per game in the NHL. … New York has allowed two goals or fewer in 10 consecutive games. … Rick Nash has 17 points (7-10=17) in his last 16 games against Los Angeles. Nash leads the league with 30 even strength goals. … Keith Yandle has 13 points (3-10=13) in his last 12 games against Los Angeles.