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Kings Back in Action Against Nashville

December 28, 2013, 11:17 AM ET [15 Comments]
Jason Lewis
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
After a four day layoff for Christmas the Kings are back at it today against the Nashville Predators. It is the start of a four game road trip that will swing the Kings from Nashville, to Chicago, then Dallas, and finally St. Louis.

The Kings and Predators have played twice already this season, splitting the series 1-1. The Kings won a tightly contested shootout back on October 17th in Nashville 2-1, while the Predators took the Kings out 4-3 on November 2nd at Staples. The final meeting between the two comes on the back of perhaps the most through beatdown the Kings have received this season at the hands of Dallas, 5-2. Thankfully the Preds don't have a Benn - Seguin - Nichuskin line, which really seemed to give the Kings fits.

Ironically, the Predators are also coming off a nasty 4-1 loss to none other than the Dallas Stars. Nashville also is in a bit of a bad run of form, losing five straight, and three of those on home ice. Over the course of those five games the Predators, a normally stalwart defensive squad, has been outscored 21-10. Bridgestone Arena, colloquially known as the Bridge, has not been the bastion for the Preds this season that it has in the past. The 8-8-3 record at home is in front of only Calgary and Edmonton in the Western Conference. They sport a minus-13 goals against differential at home overall. What can you expect though with a defense that has four of its regular starters under the age of 23, including three rookies in Victor Bartley, Mattias Ekholm, and Seth Jones.

The latter player, Seth Jones, was one that many threw into the Calder conversation early in the season as he was playing at times over 25-26 minutes a night. However, his season has taken a drastic turn and the young Jones has seen his ice time cut almost in half. In fact, in his last nine games he has played over 14 minutes just twice (15:14, 16:31). The learning curve has hit a steep incline for the 19-year old who has gone from a first pairing calder hopeful, to a third pairing trying to stay afloat.

Further adding to the woes of Nashville is the goaltending situation. Without the steady Pekka Rinne between the pipes it has been the tandem of rookies in Carter Hutton and Marek Mazanec getting the work. While the two have done respectfully, despite the numbers looking meager, they don't get a whole lot of offensive support as the Predators are one of the worst 5-on-5 teams in terms of scoring. As you can see, the problems for the Preds are pretty wide ranging.

On the other side of things, the Kings got a break just at the right time. Willie Mitchell and Dustin Brown will be back in the lineup it looks like, and Jonathan Quick will travel with the team. The potential for Quick to be activated is there if the team feels he is ready.

Dustin Brown missed the game against Dallas to a sudden illness that left the King forward saying, "I've never been that sick." Apparently Brown lost a staggering 13 pounds over the course of his 24-hour illness. You can read the full article on it here at LA Kings Insider.

Willie Mitchell is also healthy enough to play but it remains to be seen who he replaces in the lineup defensively. The Kings will likely lineup with the same set of forward lines as Monday, minus Carcillo .

King - Kopitar - Carter
Brown - Stoll - Williams
Lewis - Richards - Toffoli
Clifford - Fraser - Nolan

Carcillo, Frattin

Drew Doughty, who is having a Norris worthy season, was a minus-two on Monday night against Dallas. It was the first time in 10 games that Doughty was a minus rating, the last time coming against St. Louis as a minus-one. He and Jake Muzzin have worked out a wonderful bit of chemistry, with Jake Muzzin in particular taking tremendous strides in his all around game this year. While still prone to the bad turnover or missed coverage, Muzzin has come a long way this year from the fringe defender he was a year ago.

Will it be Jones or Scrivens? Jones is coming off his first ever loss at the NHL level, with two of the four goals he gave up likely giving him thoughts of "I should have had that." Does Sutter stay with the impressive rookie? Does he go with the formerly hot Ben Scrivens? Knowing Darryl Sutter we won't know until the team lines up for the national anthem.

It's a 3-2 league says Darryl Sutter, so I'm going to predict so. 3-2 Kings in regulation. Just has that feel of a slow starter for both teams but a decent finish.

Unfortunately I will miss tonight's game, but still follow me on twitter for updates, news, and notes from around the league and the LA Kings. Beer recommendations are also highly likely at this time of the year (Avery's Old Jubilation...try it.)




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