Game Preview – Kings vs Predators

Posted on March 17, 2012 by


This is it boys and girls. The final game against Nashville this season. Kings have taken 2 of the three so far and most recently two weeks ago. Kings won last night and our standings look a hell of a lot better this morning. If all goes our way tonight, we could find ourselves in 7th place! The Kings are really giving their all to gain that playoff spot. We are only one point out of 7th place and 3 points out of first place in the Pacific. Also note: the Kings have more games remaining than Phoenix and Colorado. So we have the advantage over them – more games to earn more points.

The Nashville Predators have been playing very good hockey with an 8-2-2 in their last 12 games. But they lost to the Sharks in a shoot out a few nights ago and the Sharks suck right now. The Kings are riding a streak of scoring after being last in the league. Since acquiring Jeff Carter, who has 5 goals in his 10 games, we have found our mojo. And thank you God for letting us find it right now when it’s so very important.

Mike Richards scored on the empty net last night and I can only hope that the lone goal in his last 26 games, I believe, will kick-start the end of season and playoffs for him. He was acquired for a reason and I’d like to see the Richards we had when he first came to our team again. I know some think he never got over his concussion. I don’t  know. But with the NHL being overly cautious about letting players back on the ice after a hit to the head, I just don’t think the doctors would allow Richards back on the ice before he was ready. I think it’s just a big fat slump. One he needs to get over right away. Bring it tonight Rick, you and Jeff. Just like old times. ok? Thanks.

A Few Notes:

  • King’s penalty kill is at 87.98%
  • Kings have a 52.7% chance of making the playoffs as of 10:00 am pst
  • Justin Williams has 11 points in his last nine games
  • The 10th place team at this time last year had the same amount of points as the Kings and finished fifth in the conference (Predators)
  • Kopitar has goals in back-to-back games and has five points in his last five games
I’ll be at the game tonight (in my green Doughty St. Paddy Day’s jersey!) so if I can, I’ll update. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone. I’m not sure about the rain, but LA Live did have a lot of music and Irish dancing scheduled for tonight. Hopefully they will bring out the tents and I’ll see you there! L.A. Live will have live music (Ken O’Malley & The Twilight Lords at 3:00 pm and Hollywood U2 L.A.’s leading U2 Tribute Band at 5:00 pm), LA Kings fan fest, beer garden and more at Nokia Plaza L.A. Live.
It’s not official who will be in net for the Kings tonight, but it is a back to back and so I’ll go with Bernier for the start. Since its early, I’ll leave the line up as it was last game with the same healthy scratches too.
Kings Lineup

# 23 Brown– # 11 Kopitar –  # 14 Williams

# 74 King– # 10 Richards – # 77 Carter

# 25 Penner –  # 28 Stoll – # 22 Lewis

# 13 Clifford– # 24 Fraser – # 71 Nolan

# 7 Scuderi – # 8 Doughty

# 33 Mitchell – # 26 Voynov

# 27 Martinez –# 22 Greene

# 45 Bernier

# 32 Quick

Nashville Predators

#74 Sergei Kostitsyn – #12 Mike Fisher – #10 Martin Erat
#46 Andrei Kostitsyn – #11 David Legwand – #27 Patric Hornqvist
#33 Colin Wilson – #15 Craig Smith – #24 Matt Halischuk
#18 Brandon Yip – #13 Nick Spaling – #22 Jordin Tootoo

#20 Ryan Suter – #6 Shea Weber
#75 Hal Gill – #38 Jack Hillen
#51 Francis Bouillon – #49 Ryan Ellis

#35 Pekka Rinne
#39 Anders Lindback

Go Kings Go!

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Posted in: Regular Season