Game 31 Preview: Los Angeles at Montreal

Los Angeles Kings (19-9-2) at Montreal Canadiens (20-9-3)
Thursday, December 17, 2015, 4:30 p.m. PT
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC
Referees: #27 Eric Furlatt, #48 Garrett Rank
Linesmen: #54 Greg Devorski, #50 Scott Cherrey
Fox Sports West, KABC 790 AM, I Heart Radio

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2015-16: 25 GP (25 GS) / 16-8-1 record / 2.28 GAA / .915 Sv% / 1 SHO
Career vs Montreal: 4 (4) / 2-2-0 / 2.71 / .872 / 0
Last Game vs Montreal: 3/5/15 / 64 MP / 15-18 + 2/4 shots / 4-3 SOW
2015-16, Away: 10 (10) / 6-3-1- / 2.42 / .917 / 0

Montreal Projected Starting Goaltender – Mike Condon
2015-16: 19 GP (17 GS) / 9-5-3 record / 2.21 GAA / .912 Sv% / 0 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: First appearance
Last Game vs Los Angeles: First appearance
2015-16, Home: 12 (11) / 5-4-2 / 2.33 / .898 / 0

2015-16 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Jeff Carter (11-16=27)
Goals: Tyler Toffoli (12-9=21)
Assists: Jeff Carter (11-16=27)
Plus/Minus: Tyler Toffoli (+15; 12-9=21), Anze Kopitar (+15; 8-11=19)
Penalty Minutes: Andy Andreoff (41; 2-0=2)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (27:50; 4-13=17)
Corsi-For Percentage: Nick Shore (62.2%; 2-3=5)

2015-16 Montreal Leaders
Total Points: Tomas Plekanec (7-20=27)
Goals: Max Pacioretty (14-12=26)
Assists: P.K. Subban (1-21=22)
Plus/Minus: P.K. Subban (+11; 1-21=22)
Penalty Minutes: Alexi Emelin (33; 0-2=2)
Time On Ice: P.K. Subban (25:12; 1-21=22)
Corsi-For Percentage: Max Pacioretty (56.0%; 14-12=26)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – t-17 / 2.53; MON – 3 / 3.13
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 2 / 2.17; MON – t-4 / 2.25
Power Play: LAK – t-19 / 18.2%; MON – 11 / 20.0%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 5 / 84.5%; MON – 3 / 86.7%
Shots/Game: LAK – 1 / 32.7; MON – 4 / 31.3
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 3 / 27.7; MON – 4 / 27.8
Faceoffs: LAK – 23 / 49.2%; MON – 17 / 49.7%
Save Percentage: LAK – 5 / .922; MON – t-7 / .919
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – 1 / 57.2%; MON – 5 / 52.9%

Los Angeles Projected Lineup

Milan Lucic – Anze Kopitar – Marian Gaborik
Michael Mersch – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Tanner Pearson – Nick Shore – Dustin Brown
Andy Andreoff – Jordan Weal – Jordan Nolan

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

Jonathan Quick
Jhonas Enroth

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 30-89-20 all-time against Montreal, a record that includes a road mark of 9-49-11. These teams will conclude their regular season series at Staples Center on March 3. … The Kings are 9-4-2 against the Eastern Conference and 3-2-2 against the Atlantic Division. Thursday’s game marks the seventh of eight consecutive games against the Eastern Conference. Thus far they are 4-1-1 (W vs PIT, W vs TBL, W @CBJ, W @ PIT, OTL @ BUF, L @ OTT, 12/17 @ MTL, 12/19 @ TOR). … Los Angeles has eight wins (tied for the second most in the NHL) when allowing the first goal (8-6-1) and a league-leading four wins when trailing entering the third period. … By coaching tonight’s game, Darryl Sutter will coach his 1,152nd career game, moving past Marc Crawford for sole possession of 15th place on the NHL’s all-time games coached list. … The Kings have averaged 35 shots on goal over the last 13 games (455 total shots). … Anze Kopitar has 12 points (3-9=12) in the last 12 games and has logged at least 20 minutes in 12 straight games. … With 242 career assists, Dustin Brown is two assists behind Charlie Simmer (244) for 12th place in club history. … With 98 regular season goals in Los Angeles, Jeff Carter is two goals shy of 100. … With 70 career goals, Drew Doughty is one goal away from surpassing Lubomir Visnovsky for fourth place on the list of goals by a Kings defenseman. With 214 assists, he is two assists behind Steve Duchesne (216) for third place on the list of assists by a Kings defenseman.

Montreal Projected Lineup

Max Pacioretty – Tomas Plekanec – Paul Byron
Lars Eller – Alex Galchenyuk – Dale Weise
Tomas Fleischmann – David Desharnais – Daniel Carr
Sven Andrighetto – Torrey Mitchell – Brian Flynn

Nathan Beaulieu – P.K. Subban
Alexei Emelin- Jeff Petry
Andrei Markov – Tom Gilbert

Mike Condon
Dustin Tokarski

Notes and milestones: Lines via NHL.com correspondent Sean Farrell … The Canadiens are expected to be without Carey Price (lower body), Brendan Gallagher (hand) and Devante Smith-Pelly (lower body), all of whom are on injured reserve. … Montreal has a +6 goal differential in the first period, +9 in the second period, and +14 in the third period. … P.K. Subban is expected to play in his 239th consecutive game and 399th career game. … The Canadiens are expected to play in front of their 475th consecutive sold out crowd, including playoffs. … Andrei Markov ranks third amongst Montreal defensemen with 511 career points, trailing Larry Robinson (883 points) and Guy Lapointe (572). … No current Canadiens have ever played for the Kings, and no current Kings have played for the Canadiens.