NHL Grind Down: Friday, October 23rd - Page 2
Carolina Hurricanes at Los Angeles Kings – 10:30 PM EDT
| Carolina Hurricanes | Los Angeles Kings | ||||||||
 | Cam Ward |  | Jonathan Quick | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 30-41 | 40-27 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.23 | 2.67 | 18.80% | 84.70% | Team Stats | 2.66 | 2.40 | 19.00% | 80.90% |
In one of the biggest snooze-fests of the early season, the Hurricanes escaped Colorado with a 1-0 shutout on Wednesday and will not continue their brutal seven game road trip tonight at the Staples Center against the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings continue to be the best team in the league by Corsi standards and have and have owned one of the biggest home-ice advantages in the NHL over the past several seasons, so expecting the Hurricanes to leave tonight with two points seems a bit far fetched. The Hurricanes finished in the cellar of the Metropolitan Division last season and didn’t do much during the offseason to shift expectations for the 2015-16 season. One of their few key acquisitions was Kris Versteeg, and he’s teamed up with Eric Staal on the top forward line where both players share the team lead with four points through the first six games. On defense, Justin Faulk has also pitched in four points and is one of the games best up-and-coming defenseman. However, Carolina will likely be chasing the puck all evening and the Staal line should see a very heavy dose of Anze Kopitars’ suffocating defense. None of these guys are cash game options for me tonight.
Despite being outshot 40-29, the Kings defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-1 last night to even their record at 3-3-0. With three wins in a row, they look to be be playing with a bit more urgency than we saw from them last season. Their the best hockey team in the league by Cori standard, however, the same thing could have been said last year and this team missed the playoffs altogether. The Kings have enjoyed one of the best home-ice advantages in the league over the last few seasons and both Jeff Carter (41 points in 41 home games) and Anze Kopitar (39 points in 41 home games) posted pretty drastic home vs road splits last season. On paper, this looks like quite the mismatch and both of the Kings top two forward lines look like terrific targets. Drew Doughty is one of the best playmakers on the blue-line in the NHL and his protege, Jake Muzzin, won’t stay off the scoreboard for long. After the night off last night, we should see Jonathan Quick back between the pipes, and with a 23-8-6 record and 1.95 GAA at the Staples Center last season, he needs to be on your radar in net.
Elite Plays
CAR: None
LAK: Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik, Tyler Toffoli, Drew Doughty, Jonathan Quick
Secondary Plays
CAR: Eric Staal, Kris Versteeg, Justin Faulk
LAK: Dustin Brown, Milan Lucic, Jake Muzzin