Carolina Hurricanes vs. Los Angeles Kings: Game Preview 10-11-13

Carolina Hurricanes vs Los Angeles Kings
October 11, 2013 - 7:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh NC
TV - SportsSouth Radio - 99.9 The Fan

SB Nation Rival Blog: Jewels From The Crown (twitter @JTFC_Kings)

Hurricanes Record: 2-1-1 (5 pts.)
Kings Record: 2-2-0 (4 pts.)

PROGRAMMING NOTE: The next several Hurricanes games will be broadcast on SportsSouth alternative channels instead of on Fox Sports Carolinas. Please make note of the channels as they'll apply for tonight's game as well as six out of the remaining eight games in October. The Canes have conveniently linked a channel guide for the viewing area, find it on their Broadcast page.

Today's Game Notes

After a dispiriting loss against the Penguins in Pittsburgh Tuesday night, the Carolina Hurricanes twice rallied from behind to claim a 3-2 victory against the Capitals in Washington last night. The Los Angeles Kings arrived in Raleigh yesterday having given up a three-goal lead before winning in overtime against the Ottawa Senators at the Staples Center on Wednesday night.

The last time the Canes and Kings faced each other, on February 4, 2012, the Canes' goal scorers in the 2-1 win were Jeff Skinner and Jiri Tlusty. Through four games neither has found the back of the net, although Skinner leads the team with 5 points, all from assists. After leading the team last season with a career-high 23 goals, Tlusty has yet to register a point, despite logging five shots on goal last night. Tlusty's linemates Eric Staal and Alexander Semin scored their first goals of the season over the last two games, so perhaps tonight it will be Tlusty's turn.

In addition to leading the team in TOI/game, Justin Faulk is currently second on the team in points scored with four assists and continues to factor in all aspects of the game.

Cam Ward has faced the Kings three times in his career and is 2-0-1 with a 1.97 GAA. Last night's starer Anton Khudobin has never faced the Kings.

Forward Jeff Carter leads the Kings with four goals and five points. Carter scored two goals in Wednesday's game including the overtime game winner. Neither Anze Kopitar nor Mike Richards has a goal yet but they are racking up assists. Former Cane Justin Williams is on the board with a goal.

Like the Capitals last night, the Kings are having early success with a man advantage, currently ranked fifth in the league with a success rate over 30%, and three of their four goals Wednesday night were scored on the power play. The Hurricanes again would be well-advised not to spend a lot of time in the penalty box.

Goaltender Jonathan Quick has never faced the Canes. The 2012 Conn Smythe winner went 18-13 last season with a 2.45 GAA and .902 save percentage. So far this season his record is 2-2 with a 3.13 GAA and .890 save percentage. Ben Scrivens is 0-2-0 with a 3.08 GAA in two games versus the Canes.

Despite their geographical disparities the Hurricanes and Kings share a little history and family ties. Defenseman Tim Gleason (who remains out with a concussion) played for the Kings for two seasons and was acquired from the Kings in the trade that sent Jack Johnson out west. Kevin Westgarth (who has been a healthy scratch for the start of the season) played 25 games for the Kings in their Stanley Cup winning season. Certainly Canes fans fondly remember the aforementioned Justin Williams, who has been part of the Kings' and Canes' Stanley Cup championships.

Of course the most compelling family story is that of father Darryl Sutter and son Brett Sutter who will face each other tonight. Papa Sutter made news when he traded his son to the Hurricanes back in 2010 as general manager of the Calgary Flames. Since joining the Canes, the younger Sutter has been solid over the years with the AHL's Charlotte Checkers, serving as their captain and receiving a few call-ups to the big club in the past before earning a spot on the Hurricanes roster this season after an impressive training camp. For those able to listen, Brett Sutter will be tonight's first intermission interview with Chuck Kaiton, which has been described as a "poignant" discussion about the relationship between father and son.

The Hurricanes are not holding a morning skate this morning nor are they having media availability, so any changes to the line-up, including a starting goaltender, won't be known until closer to game time. As information becomes available we'll post an update. Here's the current depth chart (absent any other updates from today):

Forwards

Jiri Tlusty	Eric Staal	Alexander Semin
Nathan Gerbe	Jordan Staal	Patrick Dwyer
Jeff Skinner	Riley Nash	Radek Dvorak
Brett Sutter	Elias Lindholm	Drayson Bowman
		Kevin Westgarth

Defensemen

Andrej Sekera	Justin Faulk
Jay Harrison	Ryan Murphy
Brett Bellemore	Ron Hainsey
	Mike Komisarek

Goaltenders

Cam Ward

Anton Khudobin

Injuries: Forward Tuomo Ruutu (IR - lower body), defensemen Tim Gleason (IR - concussion) and Joni Pitkanen (LTIR - broken left heel bone)

Kings projected line-up (based on the lines from the Ottawa game, no updates yet from their morning skate):

Dustin Brown - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams
Dan Carcillo - Mike Richards - Jeff Carter
Kyle Clifford - Trevor Lewis - Matt Frattin
Colin Fraser Dwight King - Jarret Stoll - Jordan Nolan

Robyn Regehr - Drew Doughty
Willie Mitchell - Slava Voynov
Alec Martinez - Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Ben Scrivens

We'll have the game thread ready to roll at 6:30 pm. See you at the rink.