Game 71 Preview: Los Angeles Kings @ Philadelphia Flyers

Image courtesy of Philly.com

Los Angeles Kings (40-25-6) @ Philadelphia Flyers (38-25-7), 7:00pm, CSN-Philly/FS-W

The Philadelphia Flyers will look for their sixth straight win tonight against Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, as the Orange and Black host the Los Angeles Kings. The Flyers will have their hands full with more than just the former Flyers on the Kings, as Los Angeles also boasts defenseman Drew Doughty and goaltender Jonathan Quick. On a winning streak that has seen them beat some of the best teams in the league, can the Flyers do it again this evening?

Regardless of what has happened for either team in recent games, the headline of this game is, as expected, the return of Richards and Carter to Philadelphia. Although this is Richards’ second trip back to Philly as an opponent, it marks the first time ever Carter will play at the Wells Fargo Center as an opponent. Richards looks as though he will miss the 20-goal mark for a third straight year with the Kings, but he still has 40 points in 71 games. Although stats don’t fully explain Richards’ game, it does say something that the former Flyers’ captain is now on the Kings’ fourth line. As for Carter, the forward seems to have rounded out his game in Los Angeles and has 24 goals and 45 points in 61 games this season. Along with Richards and Carter, Justin Williams is having another respectable season, as he has 37 points in 71 games while posting amazing possession numbers.

Looking at the game overall, the Flyers will need to provide a better performance than they provided last month in their 2-0 win over the Kings in Los Angeles. Despite catching the Kings in a funk where they won once in a 10-game span, the Orange and Black were outshot 35-13 in the victory. Although they have recently lost three of their last five games, the Kings have won their last two games as well as 10 of their last 13 contests. Regarded as the NHL’s best puck possession team, as well as boasting three of the top four puck possession players in the league, the Flyers might have their hands full tonight when attempting to dictate play. However, Philly has held their own over the last few games against strong puck possession teams like the Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, and St. Louis Blues.

An argument can be made that the Flyers have been playing better recently due to the quality of both teams’ wins coming into tonight’s meeting. While the Flyers have beat the Penguins twice, the Blackhawks, the Stars, and the Blues, Los Angeles needed to edge out a shootout win against the Washington Capitals, a poor puck possession team, and beat the Florida Panthers. Wins are wins, but the Flyers have definitely been flying high against tougher competition as of late when compared to the Kings.

With how well the Flyers’ special teams has been all season, it will once again play a factor in tonight’s game against Los Angeles. Despite being ranked 25th in the NHL with a power play that converts on 15.1 percent of chances, the Kings have scored a power-play goal in four of their last five games. The Kings have also killed off 11 of their last 12 penalties, as they are 11th in the league in killing 83.3 percent of their penalties. The Flyers are 10th in the NHL with a power play that converts 19.9 percent of the time and eighth in the NHL with a penalty kill that is successful 84.5 percent of the time. The Orange and Black have also scored five power-play goals and two shorthanded goals in their last five games. Philly has also killed off 26 of their last 27 penalties. Similar to Saturday’s win over St. Louis on Saturday, tonight’s game could be a penalty-filled mess, as the Flyers are tied with the Ottawa Senators for a league-high 278 times shorthanded this year, while the Kings are third by being shorthanded 263 times this season.

Another huge aspect of tonight’s game will be the goaltending, as Ray Emery will get his second start since the Olympic break and Jonathan Quick has been playing well as of late. Emery’s only start was on Tuesday against his former team, as he allowed two goals in the first period to the Chicago Blackhawks, but ended up stopping 23 of 25 for the overtime win. Emery wasn’t tested that much in the win, but he still made all the saves he needed to with the game on the line. As for Quick, the American netminder is coming off a 24-save shutout against the Florida Panthers on Saturday and has only allowed one goal on 46 shots against in his last two games overall. Quick’s decision over the Panthers was his 172nd win in his career, as he past Rogie Vachon for the most wins by a goaltender in Los Angeles’ history.

In a six-game stretch that many Flyers’ fans looked forward to in fear weeks ago, the Orange and Black could go 6-0-0 to greatly help their playoff chances. Unfortunately, the Flyers’ schedule doesn’t get much easier, as they will travel to New York and face the Rangers at the Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.

RECORDS
Los Angeles Kings
Overall: 40-25-6
Road: 19-12-3
Against the Eastern Conference: 18-8-3
Against the Metropolitan Division: 8-4-1

Philadelphia Flyers
Overall: 38-25-7
Home: 22-12-1
Against the Western Conference: 15-9-2
Against the Pacific Division: 8-5-0

PROJECTED LINEUPS
Los Angeles Kings
Marian Gaborik – Anze Kopitar- Justin Williams
Tanner Pearson – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Dwight King – Jarret Stoll – Dustin Brown
Kyle Clifford – Mike Richards – Jordan Nolan

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Slava Voynov – Robyn Regehr
Willie Mitchell – Alec Martinez

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Philadelphia Flyers
Scott Hartnell – Claude Giroux – Jakub Voracek
Vincent Lecavalier – Brayden Schenn – Wayne Simmonds
Matt Read – Sean Couturier – Tye McGinn
Zac Rinaldo – Adam Hall – Michael Raffl

Braydon Coburn – Kimmo Timonen
Mark Streit – Nicklas Grossmann
Andrew MacDonald – Luke Schenn

Ray Emery
Steve Mason

TEAM LEADERS
Los Angeles Kings
Goals: Jeff Carter, 24
Assists: Anze Kopitar, 36
Points: Anze Kopitar, 58
Power-Play Points: Anze Kopitar, 20
Plus/Minus: Anze Kopitar, plus-26
PIMs: Kyle Clifford, 77
Average TOI: Drew Doughty, 25:55
GAA: Martin Jones, 1.90
Save Percentage: Martin Jones, .932

Philadelphia Flyers
Goals: Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds, 24
Assists: Claude Giroux, 50
Points: Claude Giroux, 74
Power-Play Points: Claude Giroux, 31
Plus/Minus: Scott Hartnell, plus-11
PIMs: Zac Rinaldo, 126
Average TOI: Braydon Coburn, 22:32
GAA: Steve Mason, 2.53
Save Percentage: Steve Mason, .916

INJURIES
Los Angeles Kings
Dustin Brown – Upper-body injury (questionable)

Philadelphia Flyers
Steve Downie – Upper-body injury (out)

FORMER PLAYERS
Former Flyers in Los Angeles’ organization
With Los Angeles: Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Justin Williams, John Stevens (assistant coach), Dean Lombardi (General Manager)
With the Manchester Monarchs (AHL): Colin Fraser (Flyers’ third-round pick in 2003 NHL Entry Draft), Freddy Meyer (assistant coach)
With the Ontario Reign (ECHL): NONE

Former Kings in Philadelphia’s organization
With Philadelphia: Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, Kimmo Timonen (Kings’ 10th-round pick in 1993 NHL Entry Draft), Ian Laperriere (assistant coach), Ron Hextall (assistant GM and director of hockey operations), Don Luce (pro scout), Ilkka Sinisalo (European scout)
With the Adirondack Phantoms (AHL): Mike Matczak (Manchester Monarchs), Terry Murray (head coach)
With the Greenville Road Warriors (ECHL): NONE