Columbus Blue Jackets versus Los Angeles Kings preview

October 25, 4:47 PMLos Angeles Kings ExaminerJonathan Moncrief

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After posting a 5-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday night, the Los Angeles Kings return home to host the Columbus Blue Jackets at Staples Center on Sunday night. Game time is set for 6:00 local time in Los Angeles, and following the game will be a charity game between the Los Angeles Kings Alumni Association and members of the Los Angeles Fire Department and surrounding area firefighters.

Columbus Blue Jackets Examiner J. Justin Boggs and I have collaborated to provide this game preview, and the hope is that we will continue to have combined efforts on upcoming games later this season. This is the second of four meetings between the clubs this season. On October 17, the Blue Jackets won at home 4-1.

Be sure to check out Justin’s page for more news and notes about the Columbus Blue Jackets. Here’s our preview:

Columbus Blue Jackets (6-3-0), 12 points, 2nd place in Central Division)

Who's hot
When is he not hot? Rick Nash is coming off a two goal performance
last night and is clearly Columbus' top player heading into tonight's
game against the Kings. Jakub Voracek has four points in his last two
games and a plus-5 in that span. Antoine Vermette is also coming in
hot with a four game point streak.

Who's not
Anyone on defense. Since losing defenseman Jan Hejda, Columbus has had
only one solid defensive performance in four games. That was against
the Kings on Oct. 17 in Columbus. Since then, the team has had three
consecutive outings of bad defense with the help of subpar
goaltending.

Derick Brassard has also been struggling surprinsgly. The second-year
player missed most of his rookie season due to injuries. He is a
minus-five in the last three games.

Who to watch for
Goaltender Steve Mason. He needs to play much better than he did last
night. Luckily his offense was enough to save the win in the 6-4 win
over Anaheim, however no one can expect their offense to post five or
more goals in a game to win.

What to watch for
Columbus' special teams are pretty special this year. They're ninth in
the NHL in power-play percentage converting 23.5% of the time. The
Blue Jackets kill off 84.2% of their penalties, good enough for
seventh in the league. Columbus has also scored two shorthanded goals
this season.

Unsung/under the radar player
Samuel Pahlsson and Anton Stralman have been key in turning around
Columbus' special teams. Pahlsson along with Nash have done phenominal
things killing off penalties. Pahlsson's gridning style works for
trying to free the puck to clear down the ice. Stralman has a three
game point streak from the blue line and is a great right handed shot
to help keep power plays flowing for the Blue Jackets.

Line Combinations:
They are a little shaky because the Blue Jackets completely changed up
their lines last night from their game on Thursday in Edmonton.

FORWARDS
Jason Chimera - R.J. Umberger - Rick Nash
Raffi Torres - Samuel Pahlsson - Derek Dorsett
Kristian Huselius - Antoine Vermette - Jakub Voracek
Jared Boll - Derick Brassard - Andrew Murray

DEFENSEMEN:
Marc Methot - Rostislav Klesla
Fedor Tyutin - Anton Stralman
Kris Russell - Mike Commodore

GOALTENDERS:
Steve Mason (starting)
Mathieu Garon

SCRATCHES:
Nikita Filatov, Mathieu Roy, Michael Blunden

Injury report
Defenseman Jan Hejda will still be out for up to another month.
 

Home team: Los Angeles Kings
Who's hot: If the first ten games of the season are any indication about the rest of the season, then its clear that Anze Kopitar has finally figured it out. Thanks to his first career hat trick in the Kings 5-4 overtime victory over Dallas on Thursday night, Kopitar now has eight goals and eight assists for 16 points on the season, tying him with Alex Ovechkin for the most points in the league going into Friday's action. Kopitar is in his fourth NHL season at the tender age of 22, but is already showing maturity way beyond his years. The influence of Ryan Smyth, acquired in the off-season from Colorado, and Justin Williams, added at last season's trade deadline, has allowed Kopitar's confidence to grow. He and Smyth have registered at least one point in nine of the first ten games.

Who's not: Clearly, Alexander Frolov has had issues, and they surfaced near the boiling point on Monday. Following a stretch of games without any quality scoring chances during a season-long six-game road trip, and highlighted by a terrible giveaway that led to a devastating goal in a loss last Saturday at Columbus, head coach Terry Murray benched Frolov for Monday's game in Dallas. A perennial 30+ goal scorer, Frolov has just one goal in the first 10 contests, and a paltry 12 shots on goal during that stretch. To put that in perspective, fourth line center Brad Richardson has the same number of shots averaging nearly ten fewer minutes of ice time. On Thursday night, Frolov returned to the lineup and was credited with two assists.

Who to watch for: Jonathan Quick has started nine of the first ten games between the pipes for the Kings, and it looks like he'll be the only netminder playing in the foreseeable future. Murray told the media on Wednesday that he had 'erased' his plan to spot Quick from time to time with backup goaltender Erik Ersberg. In the next seven days, the Kings play back-to-back nights twice, and Quick is expected to make all four starts. He was one of three goaltenders invited to the Team USA Olympic Orientation Camp this past August. Last season, Quick posted the third highest total of rookie victories in franchise history, and has started 50 of the last 60 games dating back to last season. On Friday, he signed a three-year contract extension through the 2012-13 season.

What to watch for: The penalty killing unit was a bright spot last season, and has started to rebound from an awful start this season. In the last seven games, six of those away from home, the Kings have killed off 26 of their last 31 short-handed situations, a rate of 83.9%. The top line has also been top heavy in the scoring department: the combination of Kopitar, Smyth, and Williams (who missed the last game due to a lower body injury suffered in the morning skate) has combined to score 17 goals and compile 22 assists for a total of 39 points. The rest of the entire team has combined to tally 16 goals and register 39 assists for a total of 55 points, meaning the top line has accounted for 51.5% of the goals scored and 36.1% of the assists.

Unsung/under the radar player watch: Brad Richardson has played consistently on the fourth line.  His energy and forechecking has led to several great opportunities, and continued the Kings ability to create scoring chances by following his line with the top line.

Line combos & D pairings:
FORWARDS
Ryan Smyth - Anze Kopitar – Wayne Simmonds
Alexander Frolov - Michal Handzus - Dustin Brown
Teddy Purcell - Jarret Stoll – Scott Parse
Raitis Ivanans - Brad Richardson - Peter Harrold

DEFENSEMEN:
Jack Johnson - Rob Scuderi
Sean O'Donnell - Drew Doughty
Davis Drewiske - Matt Greene

GOALTENDERS:
Jonathan Quick (starting)
Erik Ersberg

SCRATCHES:
Trevor Lewis, Alec Martinez, Justin Williams

Injury report - Williams injury was sustained at the end of Thursday's morning skate. This will be the third game he has missed, but all indications are that he will return to the line-up on Wednesday night at San Jose. Defenseman Alec Martinez continues to battle a lower body injury that has kept in out of action since playing in the first game of the season.