GDT: Detroit Red Wings @ Los Angeles Kings - 01/07/10 - 7:30 PM

[johnjm22]

.


Los Angeles Kings
(25-15-3, 53 pts)

VS.



Detroit Red Wings
(21-15-6, 48 pts)





7:30PM (PST) @ Staples Center Los Angeles, CA

TV Broadcast: FS-W(Home), FS-D (Away)
Radio Broadcast: KTLK 1150 AM, XM 206
Online Video Stream: ATDHE.NET, YAHOO

GAME PREIVEW Last 10: Detroit 5-4-1; Los Angeles 5-5-0. Season series: This is the second of four meetings between the Red Wings and Kings this season. Detroit won 5-2 on Oct. 15 at Joe Louis Arena, getting goals from five different players. Big story: The Red Wings have held the upper hand over Los Angeles recently, having won five in a row overall against the Kings and four straight at Staples Center dating back to the 2007-08 season. Detroit has only lost twice in its last 21 contests against the Kings, going back to the 2003-04 season. The Wings are also desperate for the return of forwards Henrik Zetterberg and Dan Clearly, both of whom are nursing separated shoulders but could be back soon. Team Scope: Red Wings: Detroit has not missed the playoffs since the 1989-90 season but their 48 points this year has them five points behind the Nashville Predators and Kings for the final two seeds. A 4-1 loss at Anaheim on Tuesday had Wings coach Mike Babcock voicing his frustrations over the lackluster performance. "We weren't prepared to play, for whatever reason," Babcock said. "It was our worst game in a while. We let ourselves down here. I don't think you can even find out how good you can be unless you play as hard as you're capable of playing, and we didn't do that tonight.” Kings: Los Angeles has won three straight since dropping its fourth game in a row back on Dec. 30. The Kings are a young, up-and-coming squad that is looking to make a playoff appearance for the first time since the 2001-02 season. Los Angeles won 6-2 in its most recent contest against the Pacific Division-leading Sharks. The fact that they also scored the first six goals in that game had at least one player singing the praises of his team’s recently strong play. “We have a good team,’’ Kings leading scorer Anze Kopitar said after Monday’s game. “Maybe not for 6-0 after 41 minutes of play, but we came out confident and we killed some of their power plays and we were able to capitalize on the power play. That's huge, as we all know.” Who's hot: Right wing Todd Bertuzzi has four points and is a plus-3 in his last five games for the Wings. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick has won three straight with a 1.66 goals against average and 103 saves over that span. Stat pack: Detroit is second in the Western Conference with an average of 33.3 shots per game. Quick is tied with the Coyotes Ilya Bryzgalov and the Sharks Evgeni Nabokov for the Western Conference lead in wins with 23. Puck drop: Both clubs are somewhat at a crossroads entering Thursday night’s game. The Red Wings are trying to fight through a season’s worth of injuries to get back into the top eight in the West, while the Kings need to continue winning games against their conference rivals in order to establish themselves as a team that is as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. Los Angeles could certainly make a strong statement by defeating a Red Wings team that has given them nothing but trouble over the past few seasons.

INJURIES LOS ANGELES Justin Williams - Leg IR. (Out until at least late March) Davis Drewiske - Upper body (Questionable for Jan. 7 vs. Detroit) Randy Jones - Head (Questionable for Jan. 7 vs. Detroit) Andrei Loktionov - Shoulder IR. (Out until at least early March) Matt Greene - Back (day-to-day) Detroit Red Wings Jonathan Ericsson - Knee (Out indefinitely) Jason Williams - Ankle IR. (Out until at least early January) Henrik Zetterberg - Shoulder (Out until at least early January) Johan Franzen - Knee IR. (Out until at least mid-February) Andreas Lilja - Concussion IR. (Out indefinitely) Daniel Cleary - Shoulder IR. (Might return for Jan. 7 at Los Angeles) Niklas Kronwall - Knee IR. (Out until at least early January)

RECENT MEETINGS 10/15/09 - LAK @ DET 5-2 (Red Wings) *Kings All Time Record against vs the Red Wings: 74-71-27-4

LEADING SCORERS Forwards ........................ Kopitar, LA...........................Datsyuk, DET 42PTS (17G / 25 A, +2).................33PTS (10 G / 23 A, +10) Defensemen ........................... Doughty, LA...............................Lidstrom, DET 32PTS (9 G / 23 A, +5)................20PTS (1 G / 19 A, +10)

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS LOS ANGELES Smyth - Kopitar - Brown Frolov - Handzus - Segal Parse- Richardson - Simmonds Ivanans - Stoll - Moller Scuderi - Doughty Johnson - Harrold Martinez - O'Donnell DETROIT Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Holmstrom Bertuzzi - Filppula - Cleary Draper - Helm - Eaves Maltby - Abdelkader - Miller Lidstrom - Rafalski Meech - Stuart Lebda - Janik

PROBABLE STARTING GOALTENDERS ........................... Quick, LA - 39 GP (23-13-3).......Howard, DET-26 GP (14-9-2) GAA 2.56 / SV% .907.............GAA 2.23 / SV% .923

TEAM STATS Goals Scored Per Game: LA – 2.91 (7th) DET – 2.52 (T-24th) Goals Given Up Per Game: LA – 2.77 (T-14th) DET – 2.50 (9th) Power Play %: LA – 20.7 (7th) DET – 17.1 (20th) Penalty Kill %: LA – 79.9 (20th) DET – 81.6 (13th)

WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS

NHL GAMES TODAY

[Shellz]

Greene is playing tonight.



Win. Win. Win.

[TonySCV]

So is Zetterberg and Cleary... both returning just in time to play the Kings. Lovely.

[Cutty Sarkn3ss*]

I believe Zetterberg & Cleary are both playing tonight. . .

[Winger23]

I'm probably in the minority but I think it's in the Kings favor that Zetterberg and Cleary are back. I don't think they will play at the level that they usually do for at least 3-5 games.

Simmer and Smyth took a few to get back into the flow of things, I don't think its any difference for thier guys.

[KingsRule]

good. theyll (hopefully) be rusty as hell! go kings! ill be there in 332. Going to the Russian heritage shindig afterwards also!

[kingsholygrail]

Age old nemesis battle here.

Go Kings!

[JMFJ 3]

We ALL hate Detroit scum

[lumbergh]

Here's an ESPN story written by Pierre Lebrun in preparation:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/...=lebrun_pierre

Weird stat:

"The Kings host the Red Wings tonight, and you have to go back 19 years to find a time this late in the season when Los Angeles looked down at Detroit in the standings.

That's right, according to our friends at Elias Sports, not since the 1990-91 season have the Kings been ahead of the Wings in the standings this late in the season."

[JDM]

Detroit sucks.

[RightKinger]

Hockey gods please give us this one win against Detroit...please. The standings are freakin' crazy right now.

[Butch 19]

Originally Posted by JMFJ 3

We ALL hate Detroit scum

^^^^

God I hate Detroit - with a passion.

They need to win and win big (ok, that's greedy, but so what?)

Go KINGS!!!

[LaLaLand]

Hate the Wings more than any team in the show

[TwzKing]

Im def ready for this game, lets put some space between and the rest of the pack... there is starting to be some seperation now.

[KopitarFAN]

Just read on the main board that Holmstrom is out.

[lak4ever]

[drugold]

All my Vcash on the Red Wings should seal it

[Zal]

Originally Posted by drugold

All my Vcash on the Red Wings should seal it

Don't be so sure about that, considering they lost their leading goal scorer in Holmstrom today.

[Skebo]

Originally Posted by Butch 19

God I hate Detroit - with a passion.

You and me both. Nothing gets my blood boiling more than seeing the Red Wings fans at Staples Center. It just makes me want to cram their heads in the bathroom urinals.

[backhander]

nobody likes red wings

[JDM]

I hate the Red Wings too. I hate them this much: http://lakingsnews.com/2010/01/07/i-hate-the-red-wings/

[kingbrath]

Originally Posted by backhander

nobody likes red wings

haha those that do are sick puppies! GO KINGS!!!!!!

[KingsVision]

1/7/10 - Pre Game - Brad Stuart



Kings Vision gives you exclusive interviews from every home game. Brad Stuart of the Red Wings spoke with Kings Vision before the game on 01/07/10.

Click HERE to watch!

[Black1963]

Am I correct in assuming that Purcell and Harrold are healthy scratches?

[johnjm22]

I have a good feeling about this one.

4-1 Kings.