The Los Angeles Kings will try to win their third consecutive game when they host the Detroit Red Wings later tonight.
This will be the first of a seven-game home stand for the Kings who will not play a game away from Staples Center until Jan. 21 when they visit the New York Islanders. They are coming off back-to-back victories over their in-state rival, the San Jose Sharks.
Los Angeles boasts an impressive 11-4-1 record when skating at Staples Center and will look to improve that mark when Detroit comes to town.
This will be the second game in as many days for the Red Wings who were on the wrong side of a 2-0 shutout against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night. Detroit received good goaltending by Petr Mrazek who turned away 22 of the 24 shots he faced. But John Gibson outdueled Mrazek with a 23-save shutout for Anaheim. With that loss, Detroit fell to 3-5-2 in the last ten games and 9-7-2 on the road.
This is the second and final meeting of the 2016-17 season between the two teams. The last time Detroit and Los Angeles faced off it was the Kings who, thanks to a two-goal and three-point night from Tyler Toffoli, walked away from Joe Louis Arena with a 4-1 victory.
The Kings are currently fifth in the Pacific Division and just six points behind the first-place Sharks. The Red Wings have struggled during the 2016-17 season and currently sit in seventh place in the Atlantic Division and well outside of the playoff picture. The chances of Detroit extending their streak of 25 consecutive trips to the playoffs continuing gets slimmer by the day.
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Detroit Red Wings at Los Angeles Kings
Staples Center – 7:30 p.m. PST
Broadcast channels – FS-W, FS-D
2016-17 Season Series: Dec.15– Los Angeles 4 – Detroit 1
Los Angeles Kings – 19-15-4 – 42 Points
Home Record:11-4-1
Hot Players: Jeff Carter and Tanner Pearson
Key Injuries: Tyler Toffoli and Jonathan Quick
Projected Lines:
Forwards
Gaborik-Kopitar-Brown
Pearson-Carter-Setoguchi
Clifford-Dowd-Lewis
King-Shore-Nolan
Defense
Forbort-Doughty
Muzzin-Martinez
McNabb-Gravel
Starting Goaltender
Zatkoff
Detroit Red Wings – 16-17-5 – 37 Points
Away Record: 9-7-2
Hot Players: Henrik Zetterberg
Key Injuries: Jimmy Howard, Mike Green, Johan Franzen, Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm, Alexey Marchenko and Joe Vitale. Niklas Kronwall and Branden Smith will be game-time decisions.
Projected Lines:
Forwards
Tatar-Zetterberg-Mantha
Nyqvist-Nielsen-Vanek
Sheahan-Larkin-Glendening
Ott-Athanasiou-Miller
Defense
DeKeyser – Jensen
Ericsson – Marchenko
Ouellet – Sproul
Starting Goaltender
Coreau
Game Notes
[miptheme_dropcap style=”normal” color=”#222222″ background=””]1)[/miptheme_dropcap] Jeff Carter leads the Kings with 21 goals and has seven goals in his last seven games. Tanner Pearson has goals in back-to-back games.
[miptheme_dropcap style=”normal” color=”#222222″ background=””]2)[/miptheme_dropcap] The Kings have a slight advantage in the all-time record between the two teams with an 84-81-32 edge. But Detroit has had the advantage when visiting California pushing Los Angeles to a 34-47-17 record when hosting the Red Wings.
[miptheme_dropcap style=”normal” color=”#222222″ background=””]3)[/miptheme_dropcap] Goals might be at a premium going into tonight’s game. Both Detroit and Los Angeles have had trouble finding the back of the net with the Red Wings averaging 2.38 goals per game and the King averaging 2.45 goals a game. Both teams will have their backup goalie in net which could allow for some more offensive production, but don’t be surprised if this is a 2-1 game.
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[miptheme_dropcap style=”normal” color=”#222222″ background=””]4)[/miptheme_dropcap] Peter Budaj, who has appeared in 33 of the Kings’ 38 games will get the night off in lieu off Jeff Zatkoff. Zatkoff was in net for the teams’ meeting last month. Mrazek who played last night in Anaheim will also get the night off and Jared Coreau will be between the pipes for Detroit.
[miptheme_dropcap style=”normal” color=”#222222″ background=””]5)[/miptheme_dropcap] Los Angeles has put together a respectable 11-5-4 record in games decided by one goal while Detroit has gone 9-6-5 in the same scenario. When scoring first, the Kings are 12-4-2 and the Red Wings are 7-5-4. Who walks away with two points after sixty minutes could come down to who scores the game’s first goal.
[miptheme_dropcap style=”normal” color=”#222222″ background=””]6)[/miptheme_dropcap] Defensemen Niklas Kronwall and Branden Smith both went down with injuries during their game against the Ducks which forced the Red Wings to skate with four d-men for some of the game. The two skaters will be game-time decisions tonight in Los Angeles.