Records:
Los Angeles Kings (6-4-0)
V.
Phoenix Coyotes (6-2-2)
Home/Away Records
Los Angeles Kings
Home: 2-2-0
Away: 4-2-0
Phoenix Coyotes
Home: 3-0-1
Away: 3-2-1
Last 10:
Los Angeles Kings - (6-4-0)
Phoenix Coyotes - (6-2-2)
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Time: 7:30PM PST
Channels: Fox Sports West
Local Radio: AM 1150
---------------------
Leading Scorers:
Los Angeles Kings
| Player | goals | assists | points | +/- |
|---|
| Anze Kopitar | 0 | 8 | 8 |
+1 |
|---|
| Jeff Carter | 5 | 2 | 7 |
-1 |
|---|
| Justin Williams | 4 | 2 | 6 |
+1 |
|---|
| Mike Richards | 0 | 6 | 6 |
-1 |
|---|
| Drew Doughty | 3 | 1 | 4 |
-2 |
|---|
Goaltender Stats
| Player | W | L | OT | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|
| Jonathan Quick | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2.56 | .909 | 0 |
|---|
Ben Scrivens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.22 | .939 | 1 |
Phoenix Coyotes
| Player | goals | assists | points | +/- |
|---|
| Mike Ribeiro | 5 | 4 | 9 |
+2 |
|---|
| Martin Hanzal | 2 | 6 | 8 |
even |
|---|
| Mikkel Boedker | 2 | 6 | 8 |
+1 |
|---|
Radim Vrbata | 5 | 2 | 7 |
-1 | | Antoine Vermette | 3 | 4 | 7 |
+6 |
|---|
Goaltender Stats
| Player | W | L | OT | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|
| Mike Smith | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2.74 | .916 | 0 |
|---|
| Thomas Greiss | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 | .956 | 0 |
|---|
----------------------
Team Stats:
| Category | Los Angeles Kings | Phoenix Coyotes |
|---|
| Powerplay | 20.0% (15th) | 17.1% (19th) |
| Penalty Kill | 83.7% (9th) | 82.9% (12th) |
| G/G | 2.30 (22nd) | 3.10 (12th) |
| GA/G | 2.50 (10th) | 2.70 (18th) |
| S/G | 30.5 (15th) | 32.5 (7th) |
| SA/G | 27.7 (8th) | 33.2 (24th) |
| Faceoffs | 55.0 (4th) | 55.4 (2nd) |
-----------------------
Los Angeles Kings Preview:
After a frustrating loss against the Calgary Flames on Monday, I expect the Kings to be a little angry tonight. Monday night’s loss slipped away on bad penalties, and a penalty kill that looked surprisingly out of sorts. Discipline and defensive special teams are normally the King bread and butter, so that shot to their pride hopefully spurs something inside of them to bring it for a full 60 tonight.
Like any Phoenix-Los Angeles game, expect this one to be a real battle. The Coyotes are still the same old hard to play Coyotes, but they have geared up their offense a little more and play with a lot more speed. That could be troublesome for the Kings. However, this is a team with a nasty history with the Coyotes and that alone may provoke Phoenix to get more involved in the physical side of things. That would play right into the hands of the Kings.
Sutter didn’t wait long to try and spark the team and was a mad scientist yesterday in practice. Lines included Richards skating at the wing of Kopitar, Carter centering Frattin and King, and even Alec Martinez taking a few line rushes with the fourth at left wing. Clearly Sutter is trying to find a way to spread the Kings scoring, which at this point has been concentrated at the wings, and on the top two lines. Dustin Brown may be relegated to the third line with Stoll and Lewis tonight as well. Take these line changes with a grain of salt though, as the last time Sutter ran CONFIRMED line changes at practice he changed them at game time back to normal. Oh Sutter. For now the lines will stay as they were from last game in our projected lineups, but be prepared for some changes come puckdrop.
On top of the line juggling, Sutter confirmed that the team is trying to cut back the minutes of Drew Doughty. Doughty has been very up and down this year thus far, and while he is starting to click in offensively his defensive zone play has been exposed. A few nasty turnovers here and there have put his team behind the 8-ball and that’s something Sutter has recognized. With his cut in minutes Slava Voynov, and Willie Mitchell better be up to the task in picking it up.
King killer Shane Doan will not be in the lineup tonight and is out with a lower body injury. Doan has 72 points, including 34 goals, in 92 career games against the Kings, and has in more recent times been a physical presence whenever he plays the team. Ever since the conference finals two years ago Doan has done his best as a captain and a player to lead his Coyotes both physically and offensively against the Kings. Breathe a sigh of relief, because he’ll miss at least this meeting between the two.
Anze Kopitar was absolutely buzzing Monday night against Calgary but is still looking for his first goal of the season. He had several grade-A opportunities but couldn’t quite finish the job. I’d keep an eye on the big Slovenian heading into tonight’s game, as he may feel a bit responsible for the Calgary loss with his penalty inside the final minutes.
Los Angeles Kings Lineup (Subject to change)
Dustin Brown - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams
Daniel Carcillo - Mike Richards - Jeff Carter
Dwight King - Jarret Stoll - Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford - Colin Fraser - Jordan Nolan
Robyn Regehr - Drew Doughty
Willie Mitchell - Slava Voynov
Jake Muzzin - Matt Greene
Jonathan Quick
Ben Scrivens
Scratches: Keaton Ellerby, Colin Fraser, Alec Martinez
Players to Watch: Dustin Brown, Justin Williams, Anze Kopitar
Phoenix Coyotes Preview:
It seems like at the start of every season the Coyotes are written off, but then they step on the ice and that changes. This year is no different as the Coyotes have started well, and look to be a tough challenge throughout the year. The big difference in this year’s squad compared to last is that the scoring is up, and it’s coming from a lot of different places. While they still have that commitment to defense, they are starting to rely on Mike Smith more to bail the team out here and there while taking more chances on the offensive end. It seems to have worked thus far with the team coming into tonight in the top half of the league in both shots for and goals for while still remaining serviceable in goals against.
The return of Mike Ribeiro has been a successful one, at least for now. Ribeiro is back under Dave Tippett, a coach he had success with in Dallas, and is the team’s leading scorer at this point. Ribeiro is known primarily as a set up man, but he has loosened up his pass first mentality a little bit and is shooting a bit more, much like the entire Coyotes team. Also, he has given the team another competent centerman in the face-off circle. Between he, Vermette, and Martin Hanzal, the Coyotes are coming in at number two in the league in faceoffs. With the Kings sitting fourth in the league expect a battle for face-off wins tonight. Keep an eye on the slick puck-moving Ribeiro tonight, for he too has a penchant for showing up against the Kings with 42 points in 44 career games against LA.
Mike Smith. Love him or hate him, he is proving to be a talking point for Phoenix again. Outside of his miraculous goal scoring effort against Detroit (which if you haven’t seen it
check it out), he has been one of the reasons Phoenix has been good early on. The injuries last year to Smith really hindered his consistency and the Coyotes ability to keep games within reach. With a healthy Smith at the back though the Coyotes are taking more chances offensively with their No. 1 in net and feeling good.
To me Dave Tippett has been one of the best coaches in the league for several years now. He, along with Barry Trotz and Paul MacLean, seem to be able to squeeze water out of a rock. His responsible and grinding style of coaching has been a staple of Coyotes hockey for years now and he seems to get production from unlikely places. This year he is getting more contributions from the blue collar lineup than probably anticipated. Guys like Rob Klinkhammer, Antoine Vermette, and Radim Vrbata are not going to be household names around the league, but right now they are leading the charge in the Phoenix offense. For how long, who knows. Nonetheless it is working in Phoenix, and you might see offense coming from strange places.
Vrbata in particular has quietly been one of the more prolific goal scorers in the pacific division the last two seasons. He was on pace for over 30 goals last season if it were a full season, and was a 35 goal scorer the year before. With a full and healthy year again, expect Vrbata to be in the 30-40 in goals. He also now has Mike Ribeiro to feed him on special teams, as Vrbata has always notoriously been a trigger man rather than a passer.
Phoenix Coyotes Lineup (Subject to change)
Kyle Chipchura - Martin Hanzal - Radim Vrbata
Mikkel Boedker - Antoine Vermette - Paul Bissonnette
Rob Klinkhammer - Mike Ribeiro - David Moss
Shane Doan - Jeff Halpern - Tim Kennedy
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Zbynek Michalek
Keith Yandle - Derek Morris
Rostislav Klesla - David Schlemko
Mike Smith
Thomas Greiss
Scratches: David Runblad, Shane Doan
Players to watch: Mike Ribeiro, Antoine Vermette, OEL, Mike Smith
Scoring Summary
First Period
Los Angeles Kings Goal - 00:42 - Anze Kopitar, Assists: J. Williams, D. Brown
Los Angeles Kings Goal - 4:17 - Dwight King, Assists: Anze Kopitar
Los Angeles Kings Goal - 10:14 - Jordan Nolan, Assists: C. Fraser, D. Brown (2)
Los Angeles Kings Goal - 17:56 - Dwight King (2), Assists: R. Regehr, J. Williams (2)
Second Period
Phoenix Coyotes Goal - 10:27 - Jeff Halpern, Assists: Z. Michalek, D. Schlemko
Phoenix Coyotes Goal - 14:22 - Martin Hanzal, Assists: M. Boedker, R. Vrbata
Third Period
Phoenix Coyotes Goal - 1:51 - Martin Hanzal, Assists: K. Yandle, R. Vrbata (2)
Phoenix Coyotes Goal - 2:50 - Shane Doan, Assists: D. Morris, K. Yandle (2)
Los Angeles Kings Goal, SHG - 4:19 - Mike Richards, Assists: None
Los Angeles Kings Goal - 12:11 - Matt Frattin, Assists: D. Doughty, J. Carter
Los Angeles Kings Goal - 19:38 - Dwight King (3), Assists: A. Kopitar (2)
Final 7-4 Kings
My Three Stars
1. Dwight King
2. Anze Kopitar
3. Mike Richards
Post-Game Analysis
Whew. Okay. That was something right? Up by four after one, looks good, no worries. Phoenix scores the next four in the second and third. Oh god nervous time. Kings take a penalty soon thereafter. More nervous time. Then the other shoe falls. The back breaker that was the Mike Richards short hander that is going to have Radim Vrbata losing sleep for the next couple nights. After that it was a straightforward Kings victory.
But honestly, what a strange night. Three first goals on the season for Kopitar, Frattin, and Richards. A hat trick for Dwight King. A four goal lead erased. There just isn't enough words to describe how up and down and strange that game was.
Credit Phoenix, they fought hard down 4-0. The traffic they put in front of Quick was absurd, and certainly made life difficult for him. Yandle, Hanzal, and Vrbata were all over the place in the second period and the start of the third, however it proved to be just too much for the offensive explosion the Kings put up.
While the Kings eventually prevailed, it still is the team that can't play a consistent 60 minute game it seems. The flashes of absolute dominance are there thought. While they took about a 15 minute seance from the end of the second to the start of the third, the rest of the game was dominated by a pretty intimidating offensive performance that potted six goals and one empty netter. It's not the most orthodox way of winning, and there are definitely things to work on, but as it has been all season a W is a W.
Dwight King's hat trick is the first of his career, and he now has four on the season and is one behind Jeff Carter for the team lead. Dwight King had four goals in the entirety of the 2012-13 shortened season. King has been incredibly enigmatic this season so far. At times he looks like a legitimate top-six power forward with the way he crashes the net and gets in to cycle pucks, but it hasn't been there 24/7. Hopefully this can be a shot in the arm to King that if he plays at that level all the time it's not out of the question that he will be considered a top-six player for good.
Drew Doughty was a plus-four on the night, which completely wipes out the minus-four rating he had against Tampa Bay. He has now crept back into the positive column and sits at a plus-two on the season.
The Kings were out-hit by a considerable margin, but when you are down 4-0 there isn't really much left for you to do as a team but throw the body and try to create turnovers. The Kings did however beat up on Phoenix in the faceoff dot. Phoenix was the No. 2 ranked faceoff team in the league coming into the game so that is no small accomplishment.
Kopitar was not only dominant on the score sheet (Which I predicted was coming *obligatory back pat accomplished*), he was a solid 58-percent in the faceoff dot winning 15 of 26. While his lack of goals has been a primary focus of many media outlets, Kopitar now has 11 points with one goal and ten assists and is scoring at a point per game pace.
Mike Richards shorthander was the 28th of his career. Richards just has a knack for these sorts of plays, and he hung around in the neutral zone and timed his move on the Coyotes unsuspecting Radim Vrbata perfectly. Not only was the play well done, the finish was also a picture perfect example of patience from the gritty centerman. He held the puck just long enough to find a hole behind sprawling Thomas Greiss.
For the third time this season Mike Smith has given up four or more goals. He gave up four to Ottawa back on October 18th, and five to the Islanders on October 8th. It was also the second time that Smith had been chased from a game as he was removed 40 minutes in to the Islanders contest and just 20 in the game tonight. He gave up four on 15 shots, but had very little defensive zone help from the start.
Jake Muzzin looked out of place a little bit in the third period after taking an ill-advised penalty right after the Coyotes fourth goal. With a similar situation happening to Alec Martinez in his last game, Muzzin could be looking at another press box play for his shaky play in a crucial moment.
Also..who picks these 3 stars?
Follow me on twitter for game updates and news and notes from around the league.
++++I AM CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR SPONSORS! If you, or anyone you know would be interested in sponsoring our blog here at HockeyBuzz then send me a PM!+++++
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»