Game 69 Preview: Los Angeles at Dallas

Los Angeles Kings (41-22-5) at Dallas Stars (41-20-9)
Tuesday, March 15, 2016, 5:30 p.m. PT
American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
Referees: #25 Marc Joannette, #37 Kyle Rehman
Linesmen: #77 Tim Nowak, #57 Jay Sharrers
FOX Sports West, KABC 790 AM, I Heart Radio

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jhonas Enroth*
2015-16: 13 GP (11 GS) / 5-5-1 record / 2.01 GAA / .931 Sv% / 2 SHO
Career vs Dallas: 2 (2) / 1-1-0 / 2.51 / .937 / 0
Last Game vs Dallas: 2/7/15 / 60 MP / 38-40 shots / 3-2 W
2015-16, Away: 10 (9) / 3-5-1 / 2.35 / .921 / 1
*The Kings do not name starting goalies in advance and did not hold a morning skate.

Dallas Projected Starting Goaltender: Kari Lehtonen
2015-16: 35 GP (56 31) / 19-8-2 record / 2.84 GAA / .906 Sv% / 1 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 23 (23) / 12-9-1 / 2.55 / .915 / 2
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 1/19/16 / 58 MP / 26-29 shots / 2-3 L
2015-16, Home: 17 (14) / 9-5-0 / 2.85 / .901 / 1

2015-16 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (21-39=60)
Goals: Tyler Toffoli (25-22=47)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (21-39=60)
Plus/Minus: Tyler Toffoli (+29; 25-22=47)
Penalty Minutes: Brayden McNabb (80; 2-7=9)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (28:17; 13-31=44)
Corsi-For Percentage: Nick Shore (60.7%; 3-6=9)

2015-16 Dallas Leaders
Total Points: Jamie Benn (34-43=77)
Goals: Jamie Benn (34-43=77)
Assists: Jamie Benn (34-43=77), John Klingberg (10-43=53)*
Plus/Minus: Jason Demers (+17; 7-16=23)**
Penalty Minutes: Antoine Roussel (99; 12-12=24)
Time On Ice: Alex Goligoski (23:52; 4-29=33)
Corsi-For Percentage: John Klingberg (56.0%; 10-43=53)*
*Not expected to play tonight; next-highest Corsi-for is Patrick Eaves (55.9%; 7-6=13)\
**Not expected to play tonight; next highest plus-minus is Alex Goligoski (+13; 4-29=33)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – 14 / 2.69; DAL – 1 / 3.21
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 1 / 2.24; DAL – t-23 / 2.87
Power Play: LAK – t-7 / 21.6%; DAL – 4 / 22.4%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 14 / 81.3%; DAL – 18 / 80.8%
Shots/Game: LAK – t-2 / 32.3; DAL – t-2 / 32.3
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 4 / 27.7; DAL – 11 / 29.2
Faceoffs: LAK – 12 / 50.3%; DAL – 9 / 50.6%
Save Percentage: LAK – t-3 / .919; DAL – t-25 / .902
Corsi-for Percentage: LAK – 1 / 56.0% / DAL – 3 / 53.0%

Los Angeles Projected Lines

Milan Lucic – Anze Kopitar – Kris Versteeg
Dwight King – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Tanner Pearson – Vincent Lecavalier – Dustin Brown
Kyle Clifford – Nick Shore – Trevor Lewis

Rob Scuderi – Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin – Alec Martinez
Brayden McNabb – Luke Schenn

Jhonas Enroth
Jonathan Quick

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 85-101-40 all-time against the Dallas franchise, a record that includes a road mark of 34-61-18. This is the Kings’ only visit to Dallas this season; in the last 10 visits to American Airlines Center, they are 5-4-1. Los Angeles is 1-0-0 thus far on the season series, which concludes at Staples Center on April 2. … The Kings are 23-13-2 against the Western Conference and 9-4-2 against the Central Division. … Los Angeles is 8-1-1 on the second night of back-to-back sets this season. … Last night Jonathan Quick moved past Frank Brimsek and John Vanbiesbrouck into sole possession of first place on the list of shutouts by a United States-born goaltender. With 41 career shutouts, he is tied with Marty Turco for 34th place on the all-time list of NHL shutouts. He has four shutouts this season. … Vincent Lecavalier is expected to play in his 1,200th regular season NHL game tonight, while Kyle Clifford is expected to play his 400th regular season game. … With 466 career points, Dustin Brown is tied with Charlie Simmer for 10th place on the team’s all-time points list. With 250 career assists, he is tied with Mark Hardy for 11th place on the team’s all-time assists list. … With 431 career assists, Anze Kopitar is tied with Bernie Nicholls for fifth place overall on the Kings’ all-time assists list. He has eight points (3-5=8) in the last seven games and with a +28 on the season ranks third in the league behind Evgeny Kuznetsov’s +30 and Tyler Toffoli’s +29. … Tyler Toffoli ranks second in the league with a +29 rating. … Milan Lucic has points in six straight games (3-5=8). … Jhonas Enroth appeared in 13 games with Dallas last season, going 5-5-0 with a 2.38 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and one shutout.

Dallas Projected Lines

Jamie Benn – Cody Eakin – Patrick Eaves
Valeri Nichushkin – Jason Spezza – Tyler Seguin
Antoine Roussel – Radek Faksa – Ales Hemsky
Travis Moen – Vernon Fiddler – Brett Ritchie

Kris Russell – Alex Goligoski
Johnny Oduya – Stephen Johns
Patrik Nemeth – Jamie Oleksiak

Kari Lehtonen
Antti Niemi

Notes and milestones: Stars lines and pairings via Mark Stepneski … Dallas is expected to be without defenseman Jordie Benn (lower-body), defenseman Jason Demers (shoulder), forward Mattias Janmark (upper-body), defenseman John Klingberg (lower body) and forward Patrick Sharp (lower body). … The Stars are 23-11-6 against the Western Conference and 8-4-3 against the Pacific Division. … Dallas has points in five straight games (3-0-2) and leads the Western Conference with 91 points. … Jamie Benn has 11 points (3-8=11) in his last eight games against the Kings and has points in four straight games (2-4=6). His 77 points (33-44=77) are the second most in the NHL, while his 34 goals are tied for third. His 16 power play goals are tied for the league lead with Alex Ovechkin. … Tyler Seguin has nine points (4-5=9) in his last seven games against the Kings and ranks third in the league with 72 points (33-39=72). … Jason Spezza has goals in six straight games (7-1=8). … Ales Hemsky has points in four straight games (2-4=6). … With 693 career head coaching wins, Lindy Ruff ranks fifth (and third amongst active coaches) on the all-time wins list. He is 122-82-30 with the Stars.