GDT: Los Angeles Kings vs. Nashville Predators 11/7/09

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LOS ANGELES KINGS VS NASHVILLE PREDATORS
NOVEMBER 7TH, 2009
1:00 PM
STAPLES CENTER

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(10-4-2, 22 PTS) (6-7-1, 13 PTS)

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LOS ANGELES KINGS ROSTER

Forwards:
11-Anze Kopitar "A"
14-Justin Williams
15-Brad Richardson
17-Wayne Simmonds
23-Dustin Brown "C"
24-Alex Frolov
26-Michal Handzus
28-Jarret Stoll
41-Raitis Ivanans
54-Teddy Purcell
63-Scott Parse
94-Ryan Smyth

Defense:
2-Matt Greene "A"
3-Jack Johnson
5-Peter Harrold
6-Sean O'Donnell
7-Rob Scuderi
8-Drew Doughty
12-Randy Jones
44-Davis Drewiske
53-Alec Martinez (IR)

Goalies:
31-Erik Ersberg
32-Jon Quick

NASHVILLE PREDATORS ROSTER

Forwards:
3-Wade Belak
9-Marcel Goc
10-Martin Erat
11-David Legwand
12-Andreas Thuresson
18-Michael Santorelli
19-Jason Arnott "C"
22-Jordan Tootoo
25-Jerred Smithson
26-Steve Sullivan "A"
27-Patrick Hornqvist
29-Joel Ward
33-Colin Wilson
38-Dave Scatchard
71-J.P. Dumont

Defense:
2-Dan Hamhuis
6-Shea Weber "A"
8-Kevin Klein
20-Ryan Suter
32-Cody Franson
51-Francis Bouillon
52-Alexander Sulzer

Goalies:
35-Pekka Rinne
39-Dan Ellis

PREDATORS (6-7-1) at KINGS (10-4-2)

Last 10 -- Nashville 4-5-1; Los Angeles 6-2-2

Season series -- First of four meetings this season. Nashville swept Los Angeles last season, with the Kings gaining their lone point courtesy of a 4-3 overtime loss in the most recent matchup on April 8. Predators defenseman Shea Weber led both sides with three goals. Dan Ellis and Pekka Rinne each won a pair of games in net for Nashville.

Big story -- It's been three weeks since the Kings have failed to pick up at least a point in a game, with their record 6-0-2 after falling 4-1 in Columbus on Oct. 17. Anze Kopitar has surged to the NHL lead in scoring with 26 points, and his 13 goals is just one behind Alex Ovechkin. The Predators won't be facing the same team they repeatedly got the better of last season.

Team Scope:

Predators -- A 6-5 overtime win in Ottawa back on Oct. 22 seemed to wake up the slumbering Nashville offense and sent the team on a stretch of four wins in five games. But the Predators were once again stymied on Thursday in Anaheim, losing 4-0 as goalie Jonas Hiller put on a clinic and stopped 40 shots. Weber and J.P. Dumont both missed the game due to injuries, and the power play turned in an 0-for-5 performance.

"It wasn't as sharp, no question," coach Barry Trotz said. "We couldn't capitalize on our power-play chances. I didn't think we got enough traffic in front on the early power plays. Later on, we tried to do that a little more, but they did a good job defending it."

Kings -- Kopitar scored early and late in a 5-2 win Thursday over defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh. He got Los Angeles going with a goal just 27 seconds into the game, then sparked a four-goal rally in the third. Defenseman Rob Scuderi, who signed with the Kings in the offseason after helping the Penguins win the Cup, was part of a team-wide effort that held Sidney Crosby off the scoresheet.

"There was no special strategy," coach Terry Murray said. "We’re looking at our forecheck game, and a big part of our responsibility is that high third man, is to cover over the center iceman. We ask that against any team that we play, but I think there’s greater awareness when you have the elite player, that Crosby is, out on the ice against you.

"That third guy in the offensive zone, in the middle of the ice, was well taken care of. I thought every one of our forwards, against them, read that the right way."

Who's hot -- Dumont has two goals and nine points in his last five games and leads the Predators in scoring this season with 11 points despite playing in only nine games. They could certainly use his help against the Kings.

Kopitar and linemate Ryan Smyth (20 points) have been lighting it up all season, but the emergence of goalie Jonathan Quick, whose 10 wins have him among the League leaders, should not be overlooked.

Injury report -- On the Nashville side, Dumont hurt himself in practice earlier this week. Weber's sore foot could keep him out for a week or two. Martin Erat has been out with a lower-body injury but is nearing his return. Los Angeles currently has a healthy roster.

Stat pack -- Second-year Predators forward Patric Hornqvist was responsible for a quarter of the shots Hiller stopped Thursday, putting 10 pucks on net. Hornqvist leads the team this season with 53 shots.

Puck drop -- Nashville finished 20th in the League last season with 2.52 goals per game and is currently tied with Carolina for the lowest scoring output this season at 1.93 goals per game. It's left Ellis and Rinne with precious little margin for error, and could make for a rough going against the potent Los Angeles offense unless some scorers step it up.

Team Leaders:
KINGS-Anze Kopitar is the league leader in points with 26. He's in the process of having a breakout season after only scoring 66 points all last season. Just 16 games in, Kopitar, is dominating the league, and he's been the best Slovenian player in hockey this year. :grin:
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PREDATORS-JP Dumont has 11 points to lead the team in 9 games, but this team leader wears an "A" on his chest. D-Man Shea Weber is perhaps the greatest talent on the team. He has 9 points in 13 games and is a +2 on the year. He will definitely stand out as a force in this afternoon's game.
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Expected Match-Up In Net:
Jon Quick (10-3-2, 2.58 GAA) vs. Pekka Rinne (4-4-1, 2.81 GAA)

Special Teams:
Kings PP-22.4% (10th NHL) - Predators PP-11.3% (29th NHL)
Kings PK-75.4% (27th NHL) - Predators PK-76.9% (23rd NHL)
Kings Faceoffs-48.5% (22nd NHL) - Predators Faceoffs-50.6% (13th NHL)

X-Factor:
KINGS-Alex Frolov has scored just one point in the last 3 games and he's shown struggles in games where the Kings were on the losing end of. He hasn't scored a goal since the loss to San Jose on October 28th. He'll need to be a big part of the game if the top line is to have an off day.
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PREDATORS-David Legwand, the Preds all-time leading scorer, has gotten off to a rough start. He's played all 14 games, but only has 3 points and is a -7. There's nothing more degrading to a team than to see stats like that for your all-time leading scorer. The Preds will need to see some more production from him if they want to win.
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Surprising Stat:
KINGS-As Kingie pointed out to me, the Kopitar-Smyth-Williams line combined has 48 points, which I believe is the most of any line in hockey, even though Williams did miss a few games with a mysterious lower-body injury.
PREDATORS-Somehow, the Preds only have 7 players who have participated in all 14 games. Patric Hornqvist is the player who has the most points of the 7. He has just 8 points.

Thursday Night:
The two teams had very opposite nights. The Kings were down 2-1 for a while against Pittsburgh, but had a 3rd period explosion and beat the defending Cup Champs 5-2. Also in California, the Predators had a night to forget. Jonas Hiller didn't let the puck in the net and the Ducks defeated the Preds 4-0.

Big Difference:
The Kings have a very healthy, high-scoring team. The Predators are a defense-first team, as many of their games are low scoring. If the Kings have even a good offensive night, they can still win since the Predators are not a team that can score very often.

My Prediction:
Another surprising stat, the Predators have never won a game on November 7th. They play the team that has one of the deadliest lines in hockey, and they're up against a goalie who's been extremely solid in net. I don't see the Preds having a very good game on offense, but I don't expect their D to let up a whole lot. As for the Kings, the top line is almost guaranteed to put a goal on the board, but I think the depth will help out a little bit and they'll have the Preds playing from behind for a lot of the game. I think the Kings finish on top..
Kings 3, Predators 1

GO KINGS!!!

The NHL Arena: GDT: Los Angeles Kings vs. Nashville Predators 11/7/09 - The NHL Arena