LA Kings @ Nashville Predators
3:00 PST, Fox Sports Prime Ticket (Time change!)
Jarret Stoll injured his groin in the soccer match against the Dallas Stars and Brian Boyle has been called up in his stead. Boyle, the 6'7" manchild with the 5'9" game, is looking at one of his last chances to actually make a case that he's an NHL player. The Kings have Kopitar, Stoll, and Handzus locked up for the next 2 seasons and have Trevor Lewis marinating down in Manchester. Byole needs to show that he can play in a bottom-6 situation (or at least be defensively responsible) then he's going to quickly find out that the NHL isn't for him. The Kings have 8 games left: Boyle needs to play impossibly hard for all of them.
But with whom do the Kings play him? I would assume that he is just going to take Stoll's spot alongside Brown and Purcell, but I think the Kings should pair him with Brown and Calder. Boyle needs to prove that he can get in the corners and get some grease on him, and they should put him with 2 guys that excel in that sort of environment. I would like to see the lines as so:
Purcell-Kopitar-Williams
Calder-Boyle-Brown
Richardson-Handzus-Simmonds
Any combination that is not "Ivanans-Armstrong-Westgarth"
Well, I'd like to see Moller play, but I don't think that's going to happen. If the Kings put Boyle with Ivanans and move Army up to the 2nd line, I'm turning off the TV, I swear to God.
***
The Kings haven't scored an even-strength goal in 4 games. I'm very happy with the Kings' new defensive commitment, but look at this:
Year Off. Def.
07-08 13th 28th
08-09 29th 13th
Yeah, it's great not to allow goals, but you have to score some too. Loosen the reigns a little bit, Terry.
Prediction: Kings lose, 1-0. Screw you, Anaheim!
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