For this first in more than a decade, the Kings will play a Game 7 in the NHL playoffs. Just don’t tell that to coach Darryl Sutter. He’s more concerned with winning the fourth game of the series than any hype surrounding a ‘winner take all’ environment.
It’s a far cry from a year ago though, where the Kings never faced an elimination game en route to their first Stanley Cup title. Can they be the team to advance to the 2013 Western Conference Final or will the visiting San Jose Sharks exercise some of their own demons and do something they haven’t been able to do thus far – win in LA?
Both locker rooms were rather upbeat after morning skate earlier today. And although we didn’t get much of a sense regarding what, if any, changes Sutter would make to his line-up for tonight, here’s how MayorsManor projects the line combinations for Game 7…
FORWARDS
Kyle Clifford – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams
Dustin Brown – Mike Richards – Jeff Carter
Dustin Penner – Trevor Lewis – Dwight King
Brad Richardson – Colin Fraser – Tyler Toffoli
– NOTES: The second line left wing will be one of either Brown, Penner and King – with the other two playing alongside Lewis. Sutter has used all three in that spot at various times over the last few games. However, as he looks for more offense tonight, we’d expect Brown to at least get the start there. Also, Jordan Nolan was inserted into the line-up for Toffoli in Game 6. However, we expect Suter to go with Toffoli tonight. As always, nothing is official until closer to game time. So, look for final confirmation via twitter around 5:45pm. Jarret Stoll is definitely out. He’s resumed skating with the team during practices, but has not been cleared for contact.
DEFENSEMEN
Robyn Regehr – Drew Doughty
Rob Scuderi – Slava Voynov
Jake Muzzin – Matt Greene
– NOTE: While Alec Martinez and Keaton Ellerby are both options on defense, it would be a little surprising if either found their way into the game tonight. Sutter seems to be pretty set with the six guys listed above.
Jonathan Quick will start in net.
MayorsManor will tweet some pictures live from pre-game warmups a little after 5:30 pm PST tonight. A few hours later, we’ll also have plenty of notes and quotes to share after the final handshakes on the ice. Until then, catch up on some reading at the links below. There was plenty of info coming out of the morning skate earlier today.
RELATED CONTENT:
Game 7 morning skate – Soundbites with Sutter
For Sharks’ Scott Hannan it’s all about the melodies of Brent Burns in the locker room
Jarret Stoll on Game 7 – ‘I think it will be tough to watch’
Game 7 morning skate – comments from the Kings locker room
Game 7 morning skate – Sharks captain Joe Thornton on the pressure of tonight
Shedding some light on Matt Greene’s little known nickname
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