Records:
Los Angeles Kings (3-2-0)
V.
Florida Panthers (2-3-0)
Last 10:
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Location: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida
Time: 12pm PST, 3PM EST
Channels: Fox Sports West
Local Radio: AM 1150
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Leading Scorers:
Los Angeles:
| Player | goals | assists | points | +/- |
|---|
| Jeff Carter | 4 | 1 | 5 |
-2 |
|---|
| Anze Kopitar | 0 | 4 | 4 |
even |
|---|
| Mike Richards | 0 | 3 | 3 |
-2 |
|---|
| Dustin Brown | 2 | 0 | 2 |
even |
|---|
| Matt Frattin | 0 | 2 | 2 |
-5 |
|---|
Goaltender Stats
| Player | W | L | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|
| Jonathan Quick | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2.64 | .905 | 0 |
|---|
Florida Panthers
| Player | goals | assists | points | +/- |
|---|
| Tomas Fleischmann | 1 | 5 | 6 |
+1 |
|---|
| Brad Boyes | 4 | 1 | 5 |
-1 |
|---|
| Alexsander Barkov | 2 | 3 | 5 |
Even |
|---|
| Brian Campbell | 0 | 4 | 4 |
+2 |
|---|
| Jonathan Huberdeau | 2 | 1 | 3 |
-3 |
|---|
Goaltender Stats
| Player | W | L | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|
| Jacob Markstrom | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.63 | .883 | 0 |
|---|
| Tim Thomas | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5.05 | .850 | 0 |
|---|
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Team Stats:
| Category | Los Angeles Kings | Florida Panthers |
|---|
| Powerplay | 26.3% (8th) | 12.0% (25th) |
| Penalty Kill | 82.6% (11th) | 85.0% (9th) |
| G/G | 2.20 (24th) | 2.60 (17th) |
| GA/G | 2.80 (18th) | 4.20 (28th) |
| S/G | 30.4 (18th) | 28.6 (23rd) |
| SA/G | 28.6 (10th) | 31.6 (20th) |
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Los Angeles Kings Preview:
Things with the Kings seem to be trending in the right direction statistically speaking. The plus-minus numbers of some players look a little overwhelming, but the second and third games were not kind to many players in that regard. The goals against are going down, along with the shots against. The penalty kill is on the rise, and the powerplay and goals for remain stagnant.
The Kings are going to have their hands full today as they talk on a very fast and aggressive Florida Panthers team. It will be key for the Kings to clog the neutral zone and play the body on attacking forwards, and if they could get some cycle time of their own they should be able to overwhelm the smallish sized Panthers. Surprisingly enough the Panthers are the oldest team in the league and also one of the lightest in terms of weight. The Kings will have to utilize their size and physicality to overwhelm the Florida.
Dwight King will suit up on the second line with Richards and Carter for tomorrow after his best performance of the season Friday at Carolina. The young forward has now seen starts on all four lines and continues to be rather enigmatic when it comes to his performance. Hopefully with Carter and Richards he can act as a bit of a wrecking ball while Carter and Richards do their Carter and Richards thing.
Defensively their was a hint that Keaton Ellerby would get the start today over Alec Martinez, as coach Sutter said of Martinez’s game
“He was good offensively. Got some issues in his own end. They get no breaks, those guys. They either perform, or they don’t play. Very simple.”
Ellerby is the last of the Muzzin/Martinez/Ellerby musical chairs game to get a start, and it would be fitting if the first of the season comes against the team that drafted him and played him into the league.
Kings Lineup (Subject to change)
Dustin Brown - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams
Dwight King - Mike Richards - Jeff Carter
Kyle Clifford - Trevor Lewis - Matt Frattin
Daniel Carcillo - Jarret Stoll - Jordan Nolan
Robyn Regehr - Drew Doughty
Willie Mitchell - Slava Voynov
Alec Martinez - Matt Greene
Ben Scrivens
Jonathan Quick
Scratches: Keaton Ellerby, Colin Fraser, Jake Muzzin
Players to Watch: Dwight King, Mike Richards, Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter
Florida Panthers Preview:
The Panthers play a very wide open and up-tempo style of hockey that puts a lot of opponents on their heels. They are coming off a huge 6-3 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins and their top line of Fleischmann, Boyes, and young phenom Barkov are lighting it up. However the problem with Florida is that their style leaves the defensive game wide open as well. Couple that with a young goaltender trying to find himself, and an aging veteran with something to prove and you have a recipe for some high scores against. Florida currently sits as the third worst team in the league in goals against.
Barkov has been sensational to start the year. He is centering the Panthers top line, and if you don’t know him you better start getting to know him. Last year it was Huberdeau who turned heads and wowed us as a rookie, but this year it’s Barkov’s turn. The 18-year-old was drafted second overall just this last spring and is already proving it was not a mistake to take him up with the likes of Drouin and Seth Jones.
It is a bit of a rag tag group in the bottom nine for Florida. Oft injured players like Kris Versteeg, Scottie Upshall, and Marcel Goc are seemingly wild cards every season. If healthy this team has decent amount of offensive weapons and speed, but the key word for years it seems like has been “IF”.
In net Markstrom has been trying to take over the No. 1 job for several seasons now but hasn’t quite got the consistency down. Nonetheless he is an impressive goaltender who can completely steal games from teams with his sheer size and athleticism. It came as a bit of a shock this offseason when the Panthers decided to experiment with the controversial Tim Thomas. Safe to say with both goaltenders floundering in the .850 save-percentage range the experiment is not paying off.
Florida Panthers Lineup (Subject to change)
Tomas Fleischmann - Aleksander Barkov - Brad Boyes
Jonathan Huberdeau - Marcel Goc - Kris Versteeg
Tomas Kopecky - Shawn Matthias - Jesse Wichester
Krys Barch - Scott Gomez - Scottie Upshall
Brian Campbell - Dmitry Kulikov
Erik Gudbranson - Tom Gilbert
Mike Weaver - Matt Gilroy
Jacob Markstrom
Scott Clemmensen
Scratches: Joey Crabb, Drew Shore, Ryan Whitney
Players to watch: Aleksander Barkov, Brad Boyes, Tomas Fleischmann
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ATTN: There will be no post game write-up following the game today! Sorry folks! Enjoy the game
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • 
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