LA Kings (11-11-4) @ Colorado Avalanche (13-13-1)

6:30 PST, Fox Sports West

(Here's the Colorado perspective at Mile High Hockey)

Well, apparently we moved to a new site.  Ta-da!  I'm going to try to write something, but this whole experience will probably end up with me crying and apologizing, just like the first time I had sex.  (I've since discovered that you don't have to apologize to a corpse.)  Anywho, the Kings are still trucking along, trying not to embarrass themselves while enjoying a relatively peaceful 1st half of the season.  There's been ups (Doughty!) and downs (Gauthier!), but this season has actually been a lot more peaceful than last year's; I mean, I've only attempted suicide twice so far, way off my yearly average.  I can see only three issues that still need resolution:

1) A player that can fit alongside Kopitar and Brown;

2) This burning sensation when I pee;

3) Who to start between Labarbera and Ersberg

The first two should be resolved with time and maybe a little penicillin, but the third is a little more complex.  The problem with Jason Labarbera and Erik Ersberg is that neither have been great, but neither have been terrible.  They have different styles (Ersberg is pure butterfly, Labarbera is mostly butter-based) but have achieved remarkably similar results.  Here are their stat lines so far:

Jason Labarbera- 15 GP, 5-6-2, 2.50 GAA, .907 SV%

Erik Ersberg- 15 GP, 6-5-2, 2.52 GAA, .893 SV%

Seems pretty close to me.  Labarbera has the better save percentage, but that's mostly due to his excellent play in his last three games.  Ersberg has the better win-loss record and GAA, but that's because the team played better in front of him.  Right now I'd say Labarbera should play, but I can see the wisdom in alternating the two.  You may not know this, but goaltenders all have huge egos.  You kind of have to have one to think that you can carry your entire team on your back.  Alternating goalies that are so evenly matched (like Labs and Ersberg clearly are) can only make the two of them better.  What do you guys think?

Prediction: Kings win, 3-1.  Goals by Brown, Frolov (going for 6 straight games), and Doughty.  Ian Laperriere kicks John Zeiler's ass.