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The Los Angeles Kings are returning home to the Staples Center tonight to take on the Colorado Avalanche. On the Kings trip out east through the Metropolitan division they went 1-2-1, but ended it with a solid 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
In an interesting turn of events, the Vegas Golden Knights have caught up with the Kings for the division lead. They are currently both tied with 46 points, however Vegas has two games in hand. It’s interesting how they’ve been able to stick around in the standings despite some very strong streaks by the Kings.
As for Colorado, they are much better than where they were last year. Right now the Avs are five points out of a playoff spot, but have five teams to jump over in order to claim one. They are a young team that is fun to watch, although defense isn’t exactly their strong suit.
In tonight’s game, the Kings will be honoring Marian Gaborik for his 1000th game that he played on Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders. As well, there will be celebrations around Dustin Brown who will be playing in his 1000th game tonight, and the Kings will have a separate ceremony for him during another home stand.
Five things to watch out for:
1. Supplemental Scoring: What was great about the win against the Flyers was that the Kings were not reliant on the first line to get their goals. In fact, in that game’s case, every line but Anze Kopitar’s got involved in the action. This has got to continue in order for the Kings to get back to their winning ways, specifically the Adrian Kempe, Tyler Toffoli, and Tanner Pearson line.
It was also nice to see the defense getting into the action offensively with Alec Martinez getting the all-important first goal.
2. Top line of the Avalanche: As I mentioned earlier, the Avs are a young team that is fun to watch and it all starts with their top line. Nathan MackInnon is finally breaking out to be the young star that we knew he was. He currently has 15 goals and 39 points after 33 games, just one goal behind what he had all last season.
Mikko Rantanen led the Avalanche in scoring last year with 20 goals and was third in points with 38. This season, he’ll likely obliterate those highs as he’s already at 10 goals and 29 points in 33 games.
While captain Gabriel Landeskog broke out against Tampa Bay on Saturday with a five point night, even though the Avs ended up losing 6-5.
Stop those guys and you’ll likely stop the Avs.
3. Attack the Defense: Colorado’s defense is very young and very offensive minded, especially with Erik Johnson suspended for tonight’s game. Tyson Barrie leads the defense but he is more of an offensively focused player. Past that none of the defenseman on Colorado have developed enough to scare anybody.
The key here is to not give them any sort of time to think about what they need to do. By removing time and space from a younger group, there is more of a chance of a panic move. Only Barrie has played a full 82 game season so try to capitalize on some youthful mistakes.
4. Which goalie will show?: Semyon Varlamov has the ability to steal a game, but he also has the capability to collapse. On Monday, he stopped 30 shots in a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins and on Dec. 14, he stopped 32 in a 2-1 victory against the Panthers. However, he could also be average like in his 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals, where he gave up four goals on 24 shots.
No matter which Varlamov the Kings get tonight, they have to test him early and often. If he’s on his game, the Kings need to make life as uncomfortable as possible for him. If he isn’t on his game, you never know what’s going to go in.
5. Dustin Brown: We saw this on Saturday during Gaborik’s 1000th game, the dude had a spring in his step. I expect Brown to come out flying in today’s game and will want to make an impact. Expect him to be more physical than normal, and just being a flat out pain in front of the net.
More so, for those going to the game, make sure you give him the due that he deserves because he is a big part of LA Kings history. Only he and Dave Taylor will have played all 1000 of their games in a Kings uniform. More importantly, history will always remember Brown as the captain who lifted the franchise’s first two Stanley Cups.
Line combos for tonight (dailyfaceoff.com)
Alex Iafallo - Anze Kopitar - Dustin Brown Tanner Pearson - Adrian Kempe - Tyler Toffoli Marian Gaborik - Nick Shore - Trevor Lewis Andy Andreoff - Torrey Mitchell - Jonny Brodzinski
Jake Muzzin - Drew Doughty Kurtis MacDermid - Alec Martinez Derek Forbort - Oscar Fatenberg
Jonathan Quick is expected to start