Game 70 Preview: Los Angeles vs New York

Los Angeles Kings (42-22-5) at New York Rangers (40-23-7)
Thursday, March 17, 2016, 7:30 p.m. PT
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #36 Dean Morton, #16 Brian Pochmara
Linesmen: #64 Brandon Gawryletz, #68 Scott Driscoll
FOX Sports West, KABC 790 AM, I Heart Radio

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2015-16: 56 GP (56 GS) / 35-17-4 record / 2.14 GAA / .921 Sv% / 4 SHO
Career vs New York: 5 (5) / 3-2-0 / 2.39 / .912 / 1
Last Game vs New York: 3/24/15 / 60 MP / 34-36 shots / 4-2 W
2015-16, Home: 32 (32) / 19-11-2 / 2.25 / .908 / 1

New York Projected Starting Goaltender: Henrik Lundqvist
2015-16: 55 GP (54 GS) / 31-18-5 record / 2.35 GAA / .922 Sv% / 4 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 8 (8) / 3-4-1 / 2.47 / .916 / 0
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 11/17/13 / 59 MP / 29-30 shots / 0-1 L
2015-16, Away: 29 (28) / 12-13-3 / 2.51 / .924 / 1

2015-16 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (22-40=62)
Goals: Tyler Toffoli (26-22=48)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (22-40=62)
Plus/Minus: Anze Kopitar (+30; 22-40=62)
Penalty Minutes: Milan Lucic (74; 17-28=45)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (28:14; 13-31=44)
Corsi-For Percentage: Nick Shore (60.5%; 3-7=10)

2015-16 New York Leaders
Total Points: Mats Zuccarello (22-31=53)
Goals: Derick Brassard (25-26=51)
Assists: Keith Yandle (5-35=40)
Plus/Minus: Ryan McDonagh (+22; 9-23=32)
Penalty Minutes: Dylan McIlrath (60; 2-1=3)*
Time On Ice: Ryan McDonagh (22:35; 9-23=32)
Corsi-For Percentage: Keith Yandle (51.5%; 5-35=40)
*Not expected to play; next highest is Chris Kreider (50; 16-18=34)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – 11 / 2.72; NYR – t-5 / 2.80
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 1 / 2.23; NYR – 13 / 2.57
Power Play: LAK – t-7 / 21.5%; NYR – t-17 / 18.3%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 17 / 81.1%; NYR – 27 / 77.2%
Shots/Game: LAK – 3 / 32.1; NYR – t-25 / 28.6
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 4 / 27.7; NYR – 16 / 30.0
Faceoffs: LAK – t-12 / 50.4%; NYR – t-21 / 49.4%
Save Percentage: LAK – t-4 / .919; NYR – t-12 / .914
Corsi-for Percentage: LAK – 1 / 55.8% / NYR – t-24 / 47.5%

Los Angeles Projected Lines

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

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

Jonathan Quick
Jhonas Enroth

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 47-64-19 all-time against New York, a record that includes a home mark of 26-28-12. … The Kings are 18-9-3 against the Eastern Conference and 9-5-1 against the Metropolitan Division. … With 250 career assists, Dustin Brown is tied with Mark Hardy for 11th place on the team’s all-time assists list. … With a +30 rating, Anze Kopitar is tied for the league lead in plus minus with Evgeny Kuznetsov. He has 10 points (4-6=10) in the last eight games and since November 20 ranks third in the NHL in scoring with 55 points (17-38=55). He has six goals and 14 points in 12 career games against New York. … Milan Lucic has points in seven straight games (3-6=9). … In nine games since rejoining Los Angeles, Rob Scuderi has four assists, a +6 rating over an average of 20:02 of ice time. The Kings are 6-2-1 since his return. … Tyler Toffoli ranks third in the league with a +29 rating. He has goals in two straight games. … Kris Versteeg has goals in two straight games. … Dustin Brown has goals in two straight games.

New York Projected Lines

Rick Nash – Derick Brassard – Mats Zuccarello
Chris Kreider – Derek Stepan – Jesper Fast
J.T. Miller – Eric Staal – Kevin Hayes
Tanner Glass – Dominic Moore – Viktor Stalberg

Ryan McDonagh – Dan Girardi
Marc Staal – Dan Boyle
Keith Yandle – Kevin Klein

Henrik Lundqvist
Antti Raanta

Notes and milestones: Lines via NHL.com correspondent Abbey Mastracco … Dylan McIlrath (knee) is not expected to play. … This will be Henrik Lundqvist’s first appearance against the Kings since Game 5 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. In his last regular season meeting with Los Angeles, he stopped 29 of 30 shots in a 1-0 Kings win backstopped by Ben Scrivens’ 37 saves. Lundqvist has stopped 57 of 59 shots in his last two regular season appearance sagainst Los Angeles. … New York is 8-5-1 on the second night of back-to-back sets. The Rangers won 2-1 in regulation in Anaheim last night. … New York is 16-8-2 against the Western Conference and 8-2-2 against the Pacific Division. Since the start of last season, the Rangers are 19-4-3 against the Pacific Division. … New York swept all three California teams on the road last season. … Dan Boyle and Vincent Lecavalier were teammates with Tampa Bay for parts of six seasons (2001-08) and won the 2004 Stanley Cup. … Dan Girardi and Dustin Brown were teammates with the OHL’s Guelph Storm in 2002-03. … Keith Yandle has 13 points (3-10=13) in his last 12 games against Los Angeles. He is tied for third among NHL defensemen with 22 primary assists. … At +35, the Rangers’ five-on-five goal differential ranks second in the league behind Washington’s +37. … New York has scored in the third period in 19 of their last 22 games and ranks third in the league with 80 third period goals. … Mats Zuccarello is the first Ranger to register at least 30 assists in three straight seasons since Jaromir Jagr did so between 2005-08…. With a 0-for-3 power play performance last night, New York’s string of five consecutive games with a power play goal ended.