NHL Grind Down: Saturday, March 19th - Page Three
Boston Bruins at Los Angeles Kings – 10:30 PM EDT
| Boston Bruins | Los Angeles Kings | ||||||||
 | Chad Johnson |  | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 39-24-8 | 43-22-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.97 | 2.68 | 21.50% | 82.00% | Team Stats | 2.74 | 2.24 | 21.30% | 81.20% |
Depending on which side of the fence you sit on will depend on whether or not you roster any Bruins tonight and how many. We all know the Kings are playing an excellent brand of hockey lately as evidence of them now leading the league with only 159 goals finding their way behind the Los Angeles goaltender. Of course they may have given up a few empty net goals so that number is probably even lower, but nonetheless the point is that this game looks like a lock, on paper. The Bruins have not fared well so far on their west coast trip as both San Jose and Anaheim has beaten them as they head into their game tonight a after playing last night in Anaheim but yet they still remain a team that sits in second place in the Atlantic conference that has scored 215 goals so far this season. The top line of Lee Stempniak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand has not scored in the last three games and on the road against the west teams, that’s not too surprising. Look for the second line of David Pastrnak, Loui Eriksson and David Krejci to be a good GPP play tonight as they all have at least four points over their last four games with Eriksson leading the way with three goals and two assists over those four games. Torey Krug saw his four game assist streak snap last night in the 4-0 loss to Anaheim and will look to tonight to start up another one. Now I’m not saying the Bruins win here but they could certainly catch the Kings looking the other way as they prepare for a three game road trip that starts on the east coast.
Despite head coach Darryl Sutter’s infatuation of shuffling up the lines on a consistent basis the Los Angeles Kings have not only been able to keep winning they have extended their lead in the Pacific division to six points over the Anaheim Ducks. At last check we found Anze Kopitar and Milan Lucic on the top line with Kris Versteeg while Jeff Carter has anchored the second line with Dustin Brown and Kyle Clifford. It is quite amazing what happens when guys are placed on a line with players who can make things happen. Kyle Clifford has notched a point in each of the last two games where before that he had only five in his previous 43 games while Dustin brown has netted three goals to go along with an assist in the last three games. Needless to say Carter has been doing very well by scoring three goals for a total of eight points in his last six games. Getting back to the top line Milan Lucic has an eight game point streak going into this one which is probably something he hasn’t seen since back in his high school days. Kopitar is in playoff form as well as he has racked up nine points in the last six games. Boston comes in fresh off of playing the Anaheim Ducks last night which should make either line in play for cash games tonight. On defense Drew Doughty makes for an interesting play as he has two goals and five points in his last seven games while Jake Muzzin skates on the top power play unit next to him on the point.
Elite Plays
BOS: None
LAK: Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter
Secondary Plays
BOS: Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Loui Eriksson, Torey Krug, David Krejci
LAK: Milan Lucic, Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin, Dustin Brown