Los Angeles Kings @ Boston Bruins - 1/30/10 - 4PM

johnjm22 · 01-30-2010, 11:50 AM

.

Los Angeles Kings
(31-19-3, 65 pts)

VS.

Boston Bruins
(23-21-8, 54 pts)

4:00PM (PST) @ TD Garden Boston, MA

TV Broadcast: NESN (Home), FS-W (Away), RDS (National)
Radio Broadcast: KTLK 1150 AM, XM 204
Online Video Stream: ATDHE.NET

GAME PREIVEW

Last 10: Los Angeles 6-4-0; Boston 1-8-1.

Season series: Second and final meeting of the regular season. Los Angeles won on home ice two Saturdays ago, 4-3 in a shootout. Boston carried a 3-1 lead into the third period, but the Kings forced overtime on goals by Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar. The same two players scored in the penalty-shot tiebreaker for the victory.

Big story: Los Angeles has won the first three of a five-game road trip, four straight overall and six of its last seven. That run has lifted the Kings into sixth place in the Western Conference. On the flip side, Boston's recent freefall has seen last season's top seed in the Eastern Conference slip all the way to 12th in the current standings. Marc Savard returned Friday night in Buffalo but the Bruins' offensive woes continued in a 2-1 defeat, their sixth straight and ninth in 10 games.

Team Scope:

Kings: Kopitar appears to have regained his touch for Los Angeles. Following a torrid start to the season and a subsequent slump, the team's leading scorer has six goals and 14 points during 12 games in January. That includes the 100th and 101st goals of his four-year career, scored Thursday in a 4-1 win over Columbus.

"It's pretty special," Kopitar said. "You see the guys reaching 300, 400, 500, those big guys, and it's pretty nice. Now I've got it started, a little milestone, and I'm ready to score a couple more now too."

Added teammate Ryan Smyth: "He's an elite player, and for him to grab a hold of 100 goals is awesome. And counting. It's nice to see. Obviously he works hard, not only offensively but defensively, and he's a well-rounded hockey player."

Bruins: This is the start of a four-game homestand for Boston, which will then play its final four games before the Olympic break on the road. Right now the Bruins are struggling to win -- and score goals -- anywhere. They've scored just nine during their current skid. Their last win in Boston came in the Winter Classic on New Year's Day and their last win at TD Garden was on Dec. 30 against Atlanta.

"We need to pick it up and turn this around as quickly as we can," said Milan Lucic, who scored Boston's lone goal Friday off a Savard assist. "We made some strides in the right direction. We just have to keep going and stay positive."

Who's hot: In addition to Kopitar, the Kings continue to get production from second-year defenseman Drew Doughty, who has racked up a goal and 13 assists this month. Smyth has three goals in his last four games and six in January. Jarret Stoll has a goal and three assists in his last four games.

Stat pack: Along with the Devils and Sabres, the Kings are one of three teams in the League not to have lost a game this season when leading after two periods. The Bruins, by contrast, have a .750 winning percentage when leading after two, which ranks them 26th in the League.

Puck drop: Tuukka Rask started for Boston on Friday, meaning that it's probable Tim Thomas will get the start Saturday and face future U.S. Olympic teammate Jonathan Quick for the second time this month. They will likely back up Buffalo's Ryan Miller in Vancouver.

INJURIES

LOS ANGELES
Justin Williams - Leg IR. (Out until at least late March)
Jack Johnson - Arm (Questionable for Jan. 30 at Boston
Andrei Loktionov - Shoulder IR. (Out until at least early March)

BOSTON
Steve Begin - Undisclosed IR. (Out until at least late January)
Andrew Ference - Groin IR. (Out until at least mid-February)
Marco Sturm - Leg IR. (Out until at least early February)

RECENT MEETINGS

01/16/10 - BOS @ LAK 4-3 (Kings, SO)

*Kings All Time Record against vs the Bruins: 34-77-13-1

LEADING SCORERS

Forwards

........................

Kopitar, LA...........................Bergeron, BOS
53PTS (22G / 31 A, +7).................33PTS (12 G / 21 A, +0)

Defensemen

...........................

Doughty, LA...............................Chara, BOS
41PTS (10 G / 31 A, +16)................29PTS (4 G / 25 A, +5)

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

LOS ANGELES
Richardson-Kopitar-Simmonds
Smyth-Stoll-Brown
Frolov-Handzus-Parse
Ivanans-Moller-Segal

Scuderi - Doughty
Jones - Greene
O'Donnell - Harrold

BOSTON
Lucic - Savard - Satan
Wheeler - Krejci - Ryder
Paille- Bergeron - Recchi
Thornton - Sobotka - Bitz

Chara - Morris
Stuart - Wideman
Hunwick - Boychuk

PROBABLE STARTING GOALTENDERS

...........................

Quick, LA - 48 GP (29-16-3).......Thomas, BOS- 33 GP (13-14-6)
GAA 2.56 / SV% .907.............GAA 2.53 / SV% .915

TEAM STATS

Goals Scored Per Game:
LA – 2.89 (8th)
BOS – 2.35 (30th)

Goals Given Up Per Game:
LA – 2.72 (T-14th)
BOS – 2.44 (6th)

Power Play %:
LA – 18.5 (12th)
BOS – 17.3 (20th)

Penalty Kill %:
LA – 79.6 (T-23rd)
BOS – 87.2 (T-2nd)

WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS

EASTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS

NHL GAMES TODAY

KingsFanInRI · 01-30-2010, 11:57 AM

Looking forward to cheering the boys on in person for a change

Two years in a row, thank you Mr. Schedule Maker

aegwillnotwinthecup* · 01-30-2010, 11:57 AM

Doughty has 41 points, BRAH

TKFAN · 01-30-2010, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingsFanInRI

Looking forward to cheering the boys on in person for a change

Two years in a row, thank you Mr. Schedule Maker

Same here - 6 of us going down from NH (4 Kings fans & 2 Bruins fans).

GO KINGS GO !!!!!!!!!!

Zeno · 01-30-2010, 12:04 PM

Me too. Haven't seen the Kings play in person for awhile. It's gonna be fun.

BehindEnemyLines · 01-30-2010, 12:15 PM

Have fun at the game guys. Should be a good one. GO KINGS GO!

RAZZIE King · 01-30-2010, 12:17 PM

Bad news everyone...Jones is in the lineup...

TKFAN · 01-30-2010, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingLudwig

Bad news everyone...Jones is in the lineup...

KingsFanInRI · 01-30-2010, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingLudwig

Bad news everyone...Jones is in the lineup...

Could be a blessing in disguise...

since the B's are still looking for retribution for what Jones did to Patrice Bergeron, maybe they will want to do it in front of the home crowd......

Zeno · 01-30-2010, 12:29 PM

Should I wear my old-school Jofa Gretzky helmet?!?

Serious question.

Also, my Burger King jersey?

johnjm22 · 01-30-2010, 12:46 PM

Quick is 1 win away from a 30 win season.

aegwillnotwinthecup* · 01-30-2010, 01:32 PM

Jones in for Johnson...against Boston...at home.

This should be spectacular.

redcard · 01-30-2010, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aegwillnotwinthecup

Jones in for Johnson...against Boston...at home.

This should be spectacular.

Put on your lab coats and goggles.....this one's gonna be a bloodbath.

agentfouser · 01-30-2010, 01:45 PM

anyone notice that the first picture in the thread looks like brown is trying to pinch a loaf on thomas?

aegwillnotwinthecup* · 01-30-2010, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agentfouser

anyone notice that the first picture in the thread looks like brown is trying to pinch a loaf on thomas?

No way. I mean I can sorta see it, but let's be reality here.

Cutty Sarkn3ss* · 01-30-2010, 01:49 PM

Seems like there will be a lot of Kings fans at the TD arena. . with Jones in, this has all the ingredients to be a BLOODBATH

Cruel11 · 01-30-2010, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingLudwig

Bad news everyone...Jones is in the lineup...

I'm not surprised.

JDM · 01-30-2010, 03:19 PM

You know what's pretty sweet? Potentially, the Kings first home game back on Tuesday could be the game (only # 56 of the season) where the Kings match their win total from the entirety of last season. Of course we'd have to win today and tomorrow first, but its still pretty damn cool that we are only 3 wins away from matching last season.

Its VERY realistic that we do it against the Ducks on Thursday. But I prefer that be the game where we SURPASS our win total from 08-09.

RonSwanson* · 01-30-2010, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aegwillnotwinthecup

No way. I mean I can sorta see it, but let's be reality here.

LOL, it's amazing how quickly that phrase took off on HF Boards.

sueroe · 01-30-2010, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDM

You know what's pretty sweet? Potentially, the Kings first home game back on Tuesday could be the game (only # 56 of the season) where the Kings match their win total from the entirety of last season. Of course we'd have to win today and tomorrow first, but its still pretty damn cool that we are only 3 wins away from matching last season.

Its VERY realistic that we do it against the Ducks on Thursday. But I prefer that be the game where we SURPASS our win total from 08-09.

Beating their total by February. Very cool indeed!

aegwillnotwinthecup* · 01-30-2010, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adevandry

LOL, it's amazing how quickly that phrase took off on HF Boards.

Let's be reality is going beyond just HF. That's an internet classic.

Remember how quickly pwned spread through the forums, no matter what subject material?

KopitarFAN · 01-30-2010, 04:15 PM

I wish TM Would go with Ersberg tonight. but since he didn't, 4-2 Kings.

WithOutPaperss · 01-30-2010, 04:23 PM

Well I get to cheer for my two favourite teams. Unfortunately I'm a B's fan first, so good luck out there.

GKJ · 01-30-2010, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingLudwig

Bad news everyone...Jones is in the lineup...

Games against the Bruins always brought all Flyers fans on opposite sides of the Randy Jones fence together

RAZZIE King · 01-30-2010, 04:54 PM