Game 30 Preview: New York at Los Angeles

Los Angeles Kings (18-7-4) vs New York Islanders (8-16-5)
Saturday, December 7, 2013, 7:30 p.m. PT
STAPLES Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #10 Paul Devorski, #22 Ghislain Hebert
Linesmen: #70 Derek Nansen, #65 Pierre Racicot
FOX Sports West, KTLK 1150 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Martin Jones
2013-14 Season: 1 GP (1 GS) / 1-0-0 record / 1.87 GAA / .929 Sv% / 0 SHO
Career vs New York: First appearance
Last Game vs New York: First appearance
2013-14, Home: First appearance
*Flip a coin to see who will start for Los Angeles tonight. Though Martin Jones left the ice first following the morning skate, Ben Scrivens left the ice shortly afterwards. The above projection is based on that, as well Jones’ strong performance in a win and Darryl Sutter’s recent comments that there have been negative aspects “slipping into” Scrivens’ game.

New York Projected Starting Goaltender – Kevin Poulin
2013-14 Season: 13 GP (12 GS) / 3-10-0 record / 3.24 GAA / .887 Sv% / 20 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 1 (1) / 0-1-0 / 3.06 / .875 / 0
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 11/14/13 / 59 MP / 21-24 shots / 2-3 L
2013-14, Away: 6 (6) / 0-6-0 / 3.74 / .873 / 0

2013-14 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (7-17=24)
Goals: Justin Williams (10-10=20)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (7-17=24)
Plus/Minus: Anze Kopitar (+10; 7-7=24), Dustin Brown (+10; 5-5=10)
Penalty Minutes: Daniel Carcillo (55; 1-1=2)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (25:52; 5-9=14)

2013-14 New York Leaders
Total Points: John Tavares (11-21=32)
Goals: John Tavares (11-21=32)
Assists: John Tavares (11-21=32)
Plus/Minus: Eric Boulton (+3; 1-2=3), Lubomir Visnovsky (+3; 1-2=3)*
Penalty Minutes: Matt Carkner (57; 0-3=3)
Time On Ice: Andrew MacDonald (26:31; 3-8=11)
*on Injured Reserve

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – 21 / 2.45; NYI – 20 / 2.48
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 3 / 2.07; NYI – 29 / 3.41
Power Play: LAK – 22 / 15.9%; NYI – t-18 / 16.5%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 7 / 85.3%; NYI – 30 / 70.0%
Shots/Game: LAK – 9 / 31.6; NYI – 12 / 30.7
Shots Against/Game: LAK – t-4 / 26.4; NYI – 17 / 29.9
Faceoffs: LAK – t-1 / 54.5%; NYI – 27 / 46.0%
Save Percentage: LAK – t-5 / .922; NYI – 29 / .886

Los Angeles Projected Lines

Dwight King – Anze Kopitar – Jeff Carter
Dustin Brown – Jarret Stoll – Justin Williams
Jordan Nolan – Mike Richards – Tyler Toffoli
Kyle Clifford – Linden Vey – Matt Frattin

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Robyn Regehr – Slava Voynov
Willie Mitchell – Alec Martinez

Martin Jones
Ben Scrivens

Level of confidence in projected lines: C-. The team did not hold line rushes this morning, and both goaltenders left the ice at relatively the same time. The above projection is based on Tuesday’s win in Anaheim, with Linden Vey slotted in for Colin Fraser. Daniel Carcillo and Jeff Schultz remained on the ice for extra work after the morning skate with IR-designated skaters Matt Greene and Trevor Lewis, which indicates that they’re likely out of the lineup tonight. Expect Vey and Fraser – and potentially Carcillo as well – to take warm-ups.

Notes and milestones: The Kings are 43-21-13 all-time against the Islanders, which includes a home record of 24-17-7. Los Angeles is 7-1-1 in the teams’ last nine meetings and have won the last three meetings at STAPLES Center, dating back to October 10, 2006. The last time the Islanders visited Los Angeles was November 13, 2010. Their last win in Los Angeles was a 3-2 win on February 15, 2003, a game in which Aaron Asham scored twice and Jason Blake scored once for the Islanders, while Mathieu Schneider and Ziggy Palffy scored for the Kings. … The Kings have points in 13 of their last 14 games, going 9-1-4. … Excluding shootout goals, Los Angeles has allowed two goals or less in 14 straight games, a club record. They have allowed 20 goals over the last 14 games. … The Kings have killed off 49 of the last 53 power plays, dating back to November 7, and 42 of the last 45 power plays, dating back to November 15. … Los Angeles is 0-for-25 on the power play over the last seven games. The team’s last power play goal was scored by Matt Frattin in the first period of a 5-2 win over Tampa Bay on November 19. … Dustin Brown (186-212=398) is two points shy of 400 points in his NHL career. … Drew Doughty (54-144=198) is two points shy of 200 points in his NHL career. … Mike Richards (36-62=98) is two points shy of 100 points as a King. … Darryl Sutter is 14 games from having coached 1,000 games and 14 games behind Roger Neilson for the 21st most games coached in NHL history. He is 18 wins behind Glen Sather for the 19th most wins in NHL history and 21 wins from 500.

New York Projected Lines

Thomas Vanek – John Tavares – Kyle Okposo
Michael Grabner – Frans Nielsen – Josh Bailey
Pierre-Marc Bouchard – Brock Nelson – Cal Clutterbuck
Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Colin McDonald

Andrew MacDonald – Travis Hamonic
Thomas Hickey – Calvin de Haan
Aaron Ness – Matt Carkner

Kevin Poulin
Anders Nilsson

Notes and milestones: Lines via Curtis Zupke of NHL.com. … Since the Kings defeated the Islanders 3-2 at Nassau Coliseum on November 14, New York is 1-6-2. The Islanders haven’t won a game in regulation since November 12 and are winless in their last eight road games (0-8-0). … New York is playing the second game of a five-game road trip. After losing 5-1 in St. Louis on Thursday, they’ll travel to Anaheim (Monday), San Jose (Tuesday) and Phoenix (Thursday). … Lubomir Visnovsky will miss his 22nd consecutive game due to a concussion suffered on October 19 against Carolina. … John Tavares (11-21=32) is tied for fifth in NHL scoring with Joe Thornton, Corey Perry and Alex Steen. He was held without a point in Thursday’s loss in St. Louis but has not been held pointless in consecutive games this season. Tavares has appeared in 236 consecutive regular season games. Sidney Crosby (15-26=41) leads the league with 41 points. … Matt Martin leads the NHL with 140 hits and led the league in hits in each of the last two seasons. … Kyle Okposo (2-2=4) and Andrew MacDonald (1-2=3) will carry three-game point streaks into tonight’s game. … The Islanders are 6-4-2 when they do not allow a power play goal.