Match-up - Columbus Blue Jackets (4-3-0) @ Los Angeles Kings (5-1-1) Road/Home records - 2-2-0 -------------- 5-1-0 TV - FSO, FSW Puck drop - 4:00 p.m. ET Season series - 0-0 Projected starting goalies - Sergei Bobrovsky vs Jonathan Quick
Projected lines for the Kings via DailyFaceoff.com:
Dwight King - Anze Kopitar - Dustin Brown Tanner Pearson - Jeff Carter - Tyler Toffoli Andy Andreoff - Jarret Stoll - Justin Williams Kyle Clifford - Mike Richards - Jordan Nolan
Jake Muzzin - Drew Doughty Alec Martinez - Robyn Regehr Brayden McNabb - Matt Greene
Injured: Trevor Lewis, Marian Gaborik.
Projected lines for the Blue Jackets:
*Doubtful
Scott Hartnell - Ryan Johansen - Nick Foligno Matt Calvert - Alex Wennberg - Cam Atkinson* Mark Letestu - Artem Anisimov - Jack Skille Adam Cracknell - Michael Chaput - Jared Boll
Jack Johnson - David Savard Tim Erixon - James Wisniewski Fedor Tyutin - Cody Goloubef
Injured: Brandon Dubinsky, Nathan Horton, Boone Jenner, Ryan Murray.
Game notes:
- Jake Muzzin and Drew Doughty are about as good of a pairing as you're going to find. They're good defensively, very mobile and can produce offensively as well, obviously. Ryan Johansen's going to have his hands full trying to extend that seven-game point streak.
- Los Angeles is excellent at defending leads and locking teams down, so the Jackets can't afford another slow start. They've fallen behind 2-0 in four of the last five games, and if they do so again they'll have a tough time collecting even one point.
- The Pearson - Carter - Toffoli line has easily been the Kings' best this season. They're dominant in possession, and all three of them are averaging a point per game or more, so they'll be tough to contain. The Jackets don't have last change and will have a hard time controlling the matchups, so it'll be hard to keep them off the score board.
- Columbus really needs to tighten up in their own zone. They've played some good teams, but they're averaging 31 shots against and they've forced Sergei Bobrovsky to face a ton of quality scoring chances over the last few games. He's held up well and has a .920SV% on the year, but the Jackets can't expect him to bail the team out every night.
- The Jackets are 1-1-0 on their west coast swing thus far. If they can squeeze out a win, or even a point, against the Kings today it'll set them up nicely going forward. It's very early, but they're right on the brink of holding a playoff spot and they have a pretty soft schedule coming up. It's a very good chance to gain some ground and move up the standings.
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