Game 7 Preview: Los Angeles vs Carolina

Los Angeles Kings (3-3-0) vs Carolina Hurricanes (2-4-0)
Friday, October 23, 2015, 7:30 p.m. PT
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #19 Gord Dwyer, #24 Graham Skilliter
Linesmen: #91 Don Henderson, #66 Darren Gibbs
FOX Sports West, KABC 790 AM, I Heart Radio

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2015-16: 5 GP (5 GS) / 2-3-0 record / 2.60 GAA / .898 Sv% / 0 SHO
Career vs Carolina: 4 (4) / 3-1-0 / 1.72 / .938 / 0
Last Game vs Carolina: 11/20/14 / 60 MP / 25-27 shots / 3-2 W
2015-16, Home: 5 (5 ) / 2-3-0 / 2.60 / .898 / 0

Carolina Projected Starting Goaltender – Cam Ward
2015-16: 5 GP (5 GS) / 2-3-0 record / 2.62 GAA / .895 Sv% / 1 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 6 (6) / 3-1-2 / 1.97 / .933 / 0
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 11/20/14 / 58 MP / 36-39 shots / 2-3 L
2015-16, Away: 4 (4) / 2-2-0 / 2.25 / .914 / 1

2015-16 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Jeff Carter (2-4=6)
Goals: Tyler Toffoli (4-0=4)
Assists: Jeff Carter (2-4=6)
Plus/Minus: Jeff Carter (+1; 2-4=6), Tyler Toffoli (+1; 4-0=4), Alec Martinez (+1; 0-1=1)
Penalty Minutes: Andy Andreoff (27; 0-0=0)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (27:15; 0-2=2)
Corsi-For Percentage: Derek Forbort (75.0%; 0-0=0)

2015-16 Carolina Leaders
Total Points: Justin Faulk (2-2=4), Eric Staal (2-2=4), Kris Versteeg (1-3=4)
Goals: Justin Faulk (2-2=4), Eric Staal (2-2=4), Victor Rask (2-0=2)
Assists: Kris Versteeg (1-3=4)
Plus/Minus: Brad Malone (+2, 0-2=2), Ryan Murphy (+2, 0-2=2), Elias Lindholm (+2, 1-0=1)
Penalty Minutes: Jeff Skinner (6; 1-1=2)
Time On Ice: Justin Faulk (25:47; 2-=4)
Corsi-For Percentage: Riley Nash (68.8%; 0-0=0)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – t-27 / 1.67; CAR – t-24 / 2.00
Goals Against/Game: LAK – t-15 / 2.50; CAR – t-24 / 2.83
Power Play: LAK – 24 / 12.0%; CAR – t-28 / 8.0%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 7 / 87.1%; CAR – t-19 / 80.0%
Shots/Game: LAK – 12 / 30.3; CAR – t-21 / 28.3
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 22 / 28.2; CAR – 28 / 25.7
Faceoffs: LAK – 14 / 50.8%; CAR – t-4 / 52.5%
Save Percentage: LAK – 18 / .911; CAR – 27 / .890
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – 1 / 59.6%; CAR – t-7 / 52.6%

Los Angeles Projected Lineup

Marian Gaborik – Anze Kopitar – Dustin Brown
Milan Lucic – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Tanner Pearson – Nick Shore – Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford – Andy Andreoff – Jordan Nolan

Brayden McNabb – Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin – Alec Martinez
Christian Ehrhoff – Jamie McBain

Jonathan Quick
Jhonas Enroth

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 34-27-10 all-time against the Carolina franchise, a record that includes a home mark of 21-11-3. The Kings have won a club-record four consecutive home games in the series and haven’t lost to the Hurricanes at Staples Center since a 3-2 setback on December 8, 2005, a game during Carolina’s Stanley Cup season in which Erik Cole (x2) and Justin Williams scored for the visitors, and Jeff Cowan and Eric Belanger scored for L.A. … This is Los Angeles’ first game against the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference. These teams will meet again on November 22 in Raleigh. … Tyler Toffoli has scored goals in three consecutive games, tying a career-high. … Marian Gaborik has 10 goals and 22 points in 21 career games against the Hurricanes. … Nine of the last 11 games between the teams have been decided by one goal. … Defenseman Jamie McBain appeared in 206 games with Carolina between 2009-13, totaling 19 goals and 75 points. … The Kings’ AHL affiliate will play their first home game in the state of California when the Ontario Reign host the Bakersfield Condors (AHL-Edmonton) tonight at Citizens Business Bank Arena. For Reign coverage, follow @ReignInsider on Twitter.

Carolina Projected Lineup

Eric Staal – Victor Rask – Elias Lindholm
Nathan Gerbe – Jordan Staal – Brock McGinn
Jeff Skinner – Andrej Nestrasil – Kris Versteeg
Brad Malone – Jay McClement – Chris Terry

Ron Hainsey – Justin Faulk
John-Michael Liles – Michal Jordan
Noah Hanifin – Ryan Murphy

Cam Ward
Eddie Lack

Notes and milestones: Lines via CarolinaHurricanes.com … Defenseman James Wisniewski (torn ACL) and forward Riley Nash (shoulder) are injured. … Elias Lindholm’s father, Mikael Lindholm, totaled four points (2-2=4) in 18 games with the Kings in the 1989-90 season. He also appeared in 98 games with Los Angeles affiliates New Haven (AHL) and Phoenix (IHL) between 1989-91, representing the entirety of his North American tenure. … The Hurricanes are playing the fourth of seven consecutive road games. They are coming off a 1-0 overtime win at Colorado, the eighth game in Hartford/Carolina history that was scoreless through regulation. They will play in San Jose tomorrow night. The Hurricanes are 1-0-0 on the front end of back-to-back sets this season. … Rookie Brock McGinn scored his first NHL goal on his first shift 55 seconds into the first period of last Friday’s 5-3 win at Detroit. It was the fastest goal to start an NHL career since Buffalo’s Alexander Mogilny scored 20 seconds into his debut on October 5, 1989 against Quebec. … Defenseman Noah Hanifin was selected fifth overall at the 2015 NHL Draft. … Defenseman Justin Faulk claimed a United States bronze medal with Trevor Lewis at the 2015 World Championship. … Carolina owns Los Angeles’ 2016 first round draft pick as part of the package from the Andrej Sekera trade.