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| LOS ANGELES KINGS |
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15–11–4 (34 points; .567%) ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
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6:00 P.M. – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11 NATIONWIDE ARENA COLUMBUS, OH |
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| TV: Bally Sports Ohio, ESPN+ |
It's tough to figure out the Columbus Blue Jackets.
After losing 9-4 Wednesday night to the Buffalo Sabres, the Blue Jackets flipped the script entirely by defeating the Calgary Flames 3-1 in Johnny Gaudreau's first game against his former team.
Which version the Los Angeles Kings get for the 6:00 p.m. puck drop Sunday is anyone's guess.
Here's what to know in advance of the Kings only game of the season at Nationwide Arena:
| CBJ | SEASON STATS | LA |
|---|---|---|
| 2.85 | GOALS FOR | 3.33 |
| 4.04 | GOALS AGAINST | 3.53 |
| 12.5% | POWER PLAY | 24.5% |
| 77.0% | PENALTY KILL | 72.7% |
| 29.8 | SHOTS FOR | 32.3 |
| 35.8 | SHOTS AGAINST | 29.7 |
| 45.2% | CF% (EVEN) | 51.5% |
| 51.0% | FACEOFF % | 52.6% |
| PROJECTIONS | ||
| ODDS OF CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK | 44% | |
| ODDS OF CBJ WIN PER THE 538 | 49% | |
| CAESAR'S SPORTSBOOK BETTING | LA -135 | |
| KINGS: LAST THREE GAMES | ||
| SAT, 12/11 | @ CANADIENS | W, 4-2 |
| THU, 12/8 | vs. MAPLE LEAFS | L, 5-0 |
| TUE, 12/6 | @ SENATORS | W, 5-2 |
| KINGS: TEAM LEADERS | ||
| GOALS | GABRIEL VILARDI | 13 |
| ASSISTS | KEVIN FIALA | 22 |
| POINTS | KEVIN FIALA | 31 |
TALKING POINTS: LA
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Los Angeles comes to Columbus on the second half of a back-to-back, winning 4-2 in Montreal on Saturday night.
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This is also the Kings third game in four nights; their fourth time this season of playing three-in-four. In the first three times that has happened this season, Los Angeles has struggled in the final game — losses of 6-1 and 5-2, as well as a 3-2 overtime loss.
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The Kings are without a goal on their last six power plays, but prior to that were on an incredible heater. Over a seven-game stretch between November 22nd and December 6th, the Kings connected on the man-advantage at a rate of 55%, scoring 11 times in 20 attempts.
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23-year-old Gabriel Valardi is having a breakout season. The 11th overall pick in the 2017 draft had 18 goals in the first 89 games of his career — but has scored 13 times through the first 28 games of 2022-23. He does come into Columbus on a cold streak though, with no points in his last four games.
- The Kings top defensive pairing of Drew Doughty and Michael Anderson have skated as a duo for 500 minutes this season; exactly one full hour more than any other group in the NHL. They've been far from a lockdown line, though. The pairing's 2.04 goals against per 60 is middle-of-the-pack, coming in 12th of the 25 defensive lines with the most time on ice together.
CBJ
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ON JOHNNY AND LAINE...
Assumed to be joined at the hip on the top line for years to come, the pairing of Gaudreau and Patrik Laine hasn't really been a thing in their first season as teammates. Laine has missed half of the season with injuries, but head coach Brad Larsen opted to intentionally split them up in advance of Friday's game against the Flames. "If we can balance out our scoring instead of loading up one line it really helps us," said Larsen. Gaudreau was paired with Boone Jenner and Gus Nyquist, while Laine was joined on ice by Jack Roslovic and Yegor Chinakhov.
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MORE ON JOHNNY HOCKEY
Gaudreau was held off the scoreboard and admitted after the game that the night was a bit challenging. Staying out of the point column meant that Gaudreau remained at 28 points through his first 26 games with Columbus. Through the same number of games played last season, when Gaudreau finished with a sensational 115 points, he had just one more point than this season.
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GOALIE SITCH
Joonas Korpisalo made 14 saves in the first period Friday night, but it was Elvis Merzlikins who carried the team the rest of the way following what turned out to be a lower-body injury for Korpi. He's expected to miss about a week, meaning that Sunday's starter — as well as the starter for Columbus' three-game road trip this week — will be Elvis. Rather than calling up Daniil Tarasov to get one start (at best), the Blue Jackets called up Jet Greaves to serve as Merzlikins' backup. This is Elvis' chance to rewrite the story of what has been, so far, a miserable season for the Latvian netminder.
PROJECTED LINES
Updated: 7:05 a.m. // Subject to Change
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Johnny Gaudreau | 38 | Boone Jenner | 14 | Gus Nyquist |
| 59 | Yegor Chinakhov | 96 | Jack Roslovic | 29 | Patrik Laine |
| 91 | Kent Johnson | 34 | Cole Sillinger | 86 | Kirill Marchenko |
| 50 | Eric Robinson | 7 | Sean Kuraly | 24 | Mathieu Olivier |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Vladislav Gavrikov | 47 | Marcus Bjork |
| 75 | Tim Berni | 44 | Eric Gudbranson |
| 23 | Jake Christiansen | 2 | Andrew Peeke |
| Starting Goalie | Backup | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | Elvis Merzlikins | — | Jet Greaves |
