Game 73 Preview: Los Angeles at Minnesota

Los Angeles Kings (44-23-5) at Minnesota Wild (34-28-11)
Tuesday, March 22, 2016, 5 p.m. PT
Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Referees: #23 Brad Watson, #22 Ghislain Hebert
Linesmen: #78 Brian Mach, #56 Mark Wheler
NBCSN, KABC 790 AM, I Heart Radio

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick*
2015-16: 59 GP (59 GS) / 37-18-4 record / 2.16 GAA / .921 Sv% / 4 SHO
Career vs Minnesota: 19 (19) / 10-6-3 / 2.40 / .904 / 0
Last Game vs Minnesota: 1/21/16 / 60 MP / 25-28 shots / 3-0 L
2015-16, Away: 25 (25) / 16-7-2 / 2.07 / .933 / 3
*The Kings do not announce starting goaltenders and did not hold a morning skate.

Minnesota Projected Starting Goaltender – Devan Dubnyk
2015-16: 58 GP (57 GS) / 28-22-6 record / 2.38 GAA / .917 Sv% / 4 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 11 (10) / 5-4-1 / 2.25 / .931 / 0
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 3/28/15 / 60 MP / 31-32 shots / 4-1 W
2015-16, Home: 28 (28) / 15-10-2 / 2.15 / .923 / 4

2015-16 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (24-43=67)
Goals: Tyler Toffoli (26-22=48)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (24-43=67)
Plus/Minus: Anze Kopitar (+32; 24-43=67)
Penalty Minutes: Brayden McNabb (84; 2-7=9)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (28:12; 14-32=46)
Corsi-For Percentage: Nick Shore (61.2%; 3-7=10)

2015-16 Minnesota Leaders
Total Points: Mikko Koivu (16-33=49)
Goals: Charlie Coyle (21-18=39)
Assists: Ryan Suter (8-38=46)
Plus/Minus: Erik Haula (+18; 11-17=28)
Penalty Minutes: Ryan Carter (46; 7-4=11)
Time On Ice: Ryan Suter (28:46; 8-38=46)
Corsi-For Percentage: Nino Niederreiter (55.4%; 18-22=40)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – t-12 / 2.72; MIN – 16 / 2.62
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 2 / 2.26; MIN – 11 / 2.52
Power Play: LAK – t-8 / 20.6%; MIN – 14 / 18.9%
Penalty Kill: LAK – t-14 / 81.3%; MIN – 27 / 77.5%
Shots/Game: LAK – 3 / 32.0; MIN – 20 / 29.2
Shots Against/Game: LAK – t-4 / 27.7; MIN – 7 / 28.7
Faceoffs: LAK – t-10 / 50.3%; MIN – 3 / 52.2%
Save Percentage: LAK – t-4 / .918; MIN – t-16 / .912
Corsi-for Percentage: LAK – 1 / 55.9% / MIN – 21 / 48.1%

Los Angeles Projected Lines

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

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

Jonathan Quick
Jhonas Enroth

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 25-17-13 all-time against Minnesota, a record that includes an away mark of 12-8-7. Six of the last 19 games between the teams have been decided in a shootout. … The Kings are 24-14-2 against the Western Conference and 10-5-2 against the Central Division. … Nic Dowd was recalled from AHL-Ontario on Tuesday. The 25-year-old center has 13 goals, 47 points and a +12 rating in 57 games with the Reign this season. … Los Angeles is 9-1-1 on the second half of back-to-back sets. The final back-to-back of the season will take place on April 4 and 5 in Vancouver and Calgary. … Nick Shore’s next game will be the 100th of his NHL career. … Anze Kopitar has points in six straight games (4-5=9) and 15 points (6-9=15) in the last 11 games. His +32 rating leads the league. … With 46 points, Drew Doughty has tied his point total from last season, which is tied for the second highest point total of his career. His career-high is 59 points (16-43=59), set in 2009-10. The 16 goals from 2009-10 remains his career-high. In 27 games since January 24, he has seven goals, 22 points and a +9 rating. … With 10 goals, Alec Martinez is one goal shy of his career-high, set in 2013-14.

Minnesota Projected Lines

Jason Zucker – Mikko Koivu – Charlie Coyle
Zach Parise – Mikael Granlund – David Jones
Nino Niederreiter – Erik Haula – Justin Fontaine
Chris Porter – Jarret Stoll – Jordan Schroeder

Ryan Suter – Jared Spurgeon
Marco Scandella – Jonas Brodin
Mike Reilly – Matt Dumba

Devan Dubnyk
Darcy Kuemper

Notes and milestones: Wild lines via Dan Myers of NHL.com … Minnesota is expected to be without Jason Pominville (lower-body) and Ryan Carter (upper-body), while Thomas Vanek is expected to be a healthy scratch. … The Wild have points in 15 of the last 19 games against the Kings at Xcel Energy Center (11-4-4). … Erik Haula has points in five straight games (2-3=5). Turning 25 on Wednesday, he has already set career-highs in goals (11), assists (17) and points (28), and leads Minnesota with a +18 rating. … Nino Niederreiter has points in a career-high five straight games (4-3=7). … Ryan Suter’s 38 assists are the most by a defenseman in franchise history, eclipsing Marek Zidlicky’s 37 in 2010-11. … The Wild is tied for the league lead with the Blackhawks for the most players to have reached double-digits in goals with 11. … Interim Head Coach John Torchetti served as an interim coach of the Kings in 2005-06, going 5-7-0. Torchetti is 11-6-1 with Minnesota. … Jarret Stoll appeared in 506 games with Los Angeles from 2008-15, totaling 81 goals, 133 assists, 214 points, 344 penalty minutes and a plus-15 rating.