Records:
Los Angeles Kings (9-6-0) - (9th - WC) V. Buffalo Sabres (3-13-1) - (16th - EC)
Home/Away Records
Los Angeles Kings Home: 5-3-0 Away: 4-3-0
Buffalo Sabres Home: 0-8-1 Away: 3-5-0
Last 10:
Los Angeles Kings - (6-4-0)
Buffalo Sabres - (3-7-0)
Season Series
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Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Time: 7:30 PM PST
Channels: Fox Sports West
Local Radio: AM 1150
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Leading Scorers:
Los Angeles Kings
| Player | goals | assists | points | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anze Kopitar | 3 | 12 | 15 | +4 |
| Justin Williams | 5 | 6 | 11 | +2 |
| Mike Richards | 3 | 8 | 11 | -4 |
| Jeff Carter | 5 | 4 | 9 | -2 |
| Drew Doughty | 4 | 3 | 7 | +1 |
Goaltender Stats
| Player | W | L | OT | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Quick | 8 | 5 | 0 | 2.68 | .896 | 0 |
| Ben Scrivens | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.90 | .924 | 1 |
Buffalo Sabres
| Player | goals | assists | points | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cody Hodgson | 5 | 8 | 13 | -6 |
| Marcus Foligno | 2 | 4 | 6 | -6 |
| Matt Moulson | 2 | 4 | 6 | -2 |
| Tyler Ennis | 2 | 3 | 5 | -6 |
| Drew Stafford | 2 | 3 | 5 | -4 |
Goaltender Stats
| Player | W | L | OT | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Miller | 2 | 10 | 0 | 3.09 | .919 | 0 |
| Jhonas Enroth | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2.99 | .907 | 0 |
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Team Stats:
| Category | Los Angeles Kings | Buffalo Sabres |
|---|---|---|
| Powerplay | 21.0% (9th) | 13.7% (23rd) |
| Penalty Kill | 79.4.% (22nd) | 84.2% (12th) |
| G/G | 2.60 (18th) | 1.71 (29th) |
| GA/G | 2.67 (13th) | 3.12 (26th) |
| S/G | 32.9 (4th) | 25.5 (29th) |
| SA/G | 26.2 (5th) | 36.4 (28th) |
| Faceoffs | 55.8 (2nd) | 44.8 (28th) |
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Los Angeles Kings Preview:
The Kings are going through a bit of a down period it would seem. The team is coming off a difficult loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday and are dealing with several injuries to key players. Jeff Carter and Jarret Stoll are now joined on the injured list by Matt Greene who will likely miss tonight’s game.
Sutter said Matt Greene is banged up - doubt he will play vs buffalo
— lisa dillman (@reallisa) November 6, 2013
This leaves the Kings potentially testing their depth for a second straight year. Alec Martinez will jump into the lineup, and it’s possible we finally see Linden Vey on the bottom line. At this point however it looks like Sutter is completely fine with playing Colin Fraser for around 3-5 minutes a night as the teams 4C. Either way, with the team potentially facing the absence of Stoll, Carter, and Greene, they will have to dig deep to find goals and defensive stalwarts throughout the game.
Hopefully the Kings do not take Buffalo lightly. This is a very young team that have just come off perhaps their best win of the season in San Jose. Game by game they have looked better, and while they still are the worst team in hockey the Kings are notorious for playing down to their opponents. One thing is for certain, they will face a great goaltender on the other end in Ryan Miller.
In my last blog posting I talked about the unflattering numbers of Jonathan Quick and how they aren’t all his fault. Saturday was another fine example of Quick not getting any help, as three of the four goals came on defensive breakdowns, with two coming on the powerplay. The Kings need to get back to home plate basics, where they clear the center lanes and take care of rebounds. A lot has been made about the low shot totals that Quick has faced this season, but don’t let that fool you. Quantity doesn’t necessarily mean quality. The Kings are not allowing a lot of shots or opportunities, but the ones they have have been so good it has been hard for teams to miss.
With another two point outing on Saturday Kopitar crept back into the top-25 in NHL scoring. Although a lot was made of his absence from the goal column, Kopitar now has three goals in his last five games. He has always been a pass first player and his 12 assists are currently seventh in the NHL.
It’s likely (but not certain) going to be a match up of Team USA hopefuls in net in tonight’s game. Jonathan Quick was penciled in as the olympic starter before the season started by a nearly unanimous decision, but his early season struggles have caused some questions. Ryan Miller on the other hand was snubbed from the Olympic camp, and has since gone on to be one of the lone bright spots early on. He’s been facing a massive amount of shots each night and still is managing a respectable .919 save percentage on a team that is dead last. Quick tends to rise to the occasion in big challenges, and he should consider tonight a match up of great importance if he is facing his olympic competition on the other side.
Tyler Toffoli had a heck of a first game back in the NHL, as he put up an assist on the powerplay for one of the Kings’ goals and was overall the most effective King forward of the night. Maybe more telling of the effectiveness of Toffoli was his usage in the final tense moments of the game. With the Kings down by one, Toffoli was out for the final shifts of the game, and was also added to the late power play in which tied it up. Sutter showed a lot of trust in the young winger, and while he isn’t going to fill the shoes of Carter he is an effective addition to the roster.
Los Angeles Kings Lineup (Subject to change)
Dustin Brown - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams Dwight King - Mike Richards - Tyler Toffoli Dan Carcillo - Trevor Lewis - Matt Frattin Kyle Clifford - Linden Vey - Jordan Nolan
Jake Muzzin - Drew Doughty Slava Voynov - Robyn Regehr Willie Mitchell - Alec Martinez
Jonathan Quick Ben Scrivens
Healthy Scratches: Daniel Carcillo, Colin Fraser, Alec Martinez Injuries: Jeff Carter (lower body), Jarret Stoll (Upper-body), Matt Greene (Undisclosed)
Players to Watch:Tyler Toffoli, Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Quick, Alec Martinez
Buffalo Sabres Preview:
It was a tremendous win the other night for Buffalo, who took down top squad San Jose in a barn burner up at HP Pavilion. It was a game of battles, and for the first time all season it looked like Buffalo refused to give up. In these early goings it has looked like the young Sabres have gotten behind early and given up before even fighting. Against the Sharks though it was different, and they were rewarded for their diligence. This game against the Kings will be very telling, as the Sabres will look to continue on with another win and try to build some momentum.
So what has been wrong with the Sabres? 5-on-5. While they team holds onto decent special teams numbers, they aren’t good when it comes to 5-on-5 scoring or defending. They allow a plethora of shots on their own goaltender and get very few on opposing netminders. They have very little scoring depth outside of Cody Hodgson and Matt Moulson. Ennis remains an incredibly streaky players, and Ville Leino and Drew Stafford make up the wings on perhaps one of the most expensive and underachieving 4th lines in hockey. Tyler Myers, since his calder winning rookie season, has regressed considerably and at times looks lost in his defensive end.
With all that in mind Buffalo has a glut of incredibly talented young players. Marcus Foligno is a roster regular after a breakout season two years ago, Corey Tropp is back in the lineup after a preseason injury, and Girgensons, Larsson, and Brian Flynn make up an intriguing and young third line. On defense, 2013 selection Rasmus Ristolainen has looked good all things considered, and bug Mark Pysyk has finally made his way to the NHL and is playing top quality minutes for the Sabres. On the bench has been Nikita Zadorov and Mikhail Grigorenko whom are both under the age of 21. It’s not all doom and gloom for Buffalo as they have many quality young pieces playing good solid minutes for them.
The hockey world was abuzz on Saturday when Buffalo opted to waive Patrick Kaleta who was coming off of a 10-game suspension handed down for his headshot on Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson. Kaleta, by all accounts a good hockey player and an integral piece to the Sabres in the past, will head to Rochester of the AHL after clearing waivers. It was a message to the 27-year old that he needs to clean up his game. Kaleta has since vowed he will change his game in an attempt to get back into the NHL in the near future. Here is a good blurb from USA Today on Kaleta since his AHL assignment.
Who’s ready for some Steve Ott? That’s right Ott is coming to town. After being with Dallas for nine seasons and being a regular opponent of the LA Kings, Ott moved on to…uh..different pastures with the Sabres. A notorious agitator, Ott has never really been a threat offensively when he played the Kings but has put up 112 penalty minutes in his career 47 games against them. Get ready for some yapping. Oh, and he’s a captain. Go figure right?
The prodigal son returns. Okay maybe not prodigious, but Matt Moulson will make his way back to Staples Center tonight. This time he will be as a member of the Sabres and not the Islanders. Moulson was traded from the Islanders to the Sabres back on October 27th for Tomas Vanek. While a number of people questioned wether or not Moulson, a former King prospect, could score without John Tavares he has put up six points in his first four games as a Sabre. Moulson played a grand total of 29 games with the Kings from 2007-2009, scoring six goals and four assists. He was not tendered an offer by the Kings and subsequently went on to have three straight 30 goal seasons and was 23rd in league scoring with 44 points last year as the Islanders premier left winger. Moulson can certainly fire the puck and he always seems to put himself in the right place to grab a goal or two. Look for him to be in the mix if the Sabres get any scoring opportunities.
Buffalo Sabres Lineup (Subject to change)
Matt Moulson – Cody Hodgson – Tyler Ennis Steve Ott – Marcus Foligno – Corey Tropp Zemgus Girgensons – Johan Larsson – Brian Flynn Ville Leino – Cody McCormick – Drew Stafford
Christian Ehrhoff – Mark Pysyk Henrik Tallinder – Tyler Myers Jamie McBain – Rasmus Ristolainen
Jhonas Enroth Ryan Miller
Healthy Scratches: Mikhail Grigorenko, John Scott (Suspension), Nikita Zadorov
Injuries: Joel Armia (Hand), Mike Weber (Undisclosed)
Players to watch: Cody Hodgson, Matt Moulson, Ryan Miller, Steve Ott
No post-game will follow! Kings take on the Canucks on Saturday at Staples at 7pm!
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