Game Time: 1:00 PM PST | 4:00 PM EST
Location: Staples Center | Los Angeles, CA
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Away Team: No TV
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The Montreal Canadiens are alone in first place in the Northeast Division. They hope to hold on to that distinction after visiting the team with the worst record in the Western Conference.
The Canadiens go for their ninth win in 12 games on Saturday when they visit the last-place Los Angeles Kings in the first meeting between these clubs in more than two years.
Montreal (37-22-9) has scored 3.5 goals per game to go 8-3-0 in its last 11. Combined with the struggles of Northeast rival Ottawa, that surge has given the Canadiens a two-point lead in the division over the Senators, who visit Phoenix on Saturday.
The Canadiens fell behind 2-1 early in the third period on Thursday night, but answered with three goals of their own to seal a 4-2 win over the Coyotes.
The late offensive surge accompanied a strong effort from rookie goaltender Carey Price, who stopped 37 shots while playing through a sunburn he got while fishing in the Phoenix area.
Meanwhile, the Kings' search for stability in net will likely continue with Jason LaBarbera sidelined for the rest of the season after undergoing sports hernia surgery Wednesday.
Los Angeles (27-37-5), which has used 10 goalies since the beginning of last season, may give Erik Ersberg a closer look after the rookie's performance on Thursday. Ersberg stopped 40 shots in his third NHL start to notch his first career win, 2-0 over Ottawa.
However, Ersberg might sit out against Montreal in favor of veteran Dan Cloutier, who's 6-3-0 with a 2.04 goals-against average in 10 career games against the Canadiens. He has won his last six starts against them, but hasn't faced Montreal since Nov. 25, 2003 while with Vancouver.
Whoever starts for Los Angles can expect to be challenged by Montreal forwards Alexei Kovalev and Tomas Plekanec. Kovalev has four goals and 14 assists during the Canadiens' 8-3-0 stretch, and Plekanec has six goals and two assists during a personal four-game point streak.
This is the first meeting between the Canadiens and the Kings since Montreal won 3-2 at home on Dec. 3, 2005. The Canadiens, who have won eight of the last 11 in the series, haven't visited Los Angeles since a 4-2 victory on March 6, 2004.
The Kings have a home record of 15-17-2 and their last 10 games is a record of 3-5-2.
The Canadiens have a road record of 21-10-4, and their last 10 games is a record of 7-3-0.
The Kings finish their Canadian home stand on Monday night against the Vancouver Canucks at Staples Center.
"It's been a dream of mine since I was a little kid,"
Ersberg said. "It's a great opportunity to play in this league and show what you can do. It feels good to get some games up here. I'm happy for every game I get. That's why I came over here - to play in this league. When you play a couple of games, you want to get more.
"We saw him last year at the World Championships. We had him identified before that, and then we watched him there. We had a hole on our reserve list in that age group, so we took a shot at him," said Kings assistant GM
Ron Hextall, who played in the NHL for 13 seasons.
"His athleticism and quickness are the best aspects of his game, as well as his lateral movement. He's not the biggest guy, so he's got to use his athletic ability. Obviously, this gives us a chance to look at him and gives him a chance to prove something. But I can't imagine him locking up a spot for next season in these last 14 games."
"I had no idea if it was in or not,"
Ersberg said. "It was under my glove, so I guess it was hard for him to see if it was over the goal line or not."
Marc Crawford's comments on Ersberg and Ottawa's play, thanks to Jill Painter:
"You could see there was a little more life,''
Crawford said. "Victories do that for you. That’s why it’s so nice to get them and build upon them. We did it in the right way, I thought. We did keep the rush chances down. We wanted to keep our rush chances down. That’s what we felt we did such a good job of. It’s going to be a great challenge for us tomorrow. Arguably, we’ll be playing a team (Montreal) with even more speed and even more dynamic rushing attack. They’ve got the supplemental kind of defensemen that are extremely creative, not that Ottawa’s weren’t creative, but I think they take it to another degree. That always poses an extra challenge for your club. We’re playing with a little extra confidence right now. You always like to play with confidence, and Ersberg is at the top of his game, even thought he’s only a young goaltender. He’s seeing the puck quite well. We’re going to give him the opportunity to play against one of the best teams in the East tomorrow.’’
"I just want him to play well. I don’t’ want any excess pressure. We don’t want to lead anyone into believing it’s do or die for the young Erik Ersberg. He’s a good, young goaltender. He’s shown a nice ability to take a nice step this year. He took a step from the American League level getting used to North American hockey and how more many shots there are and how people will throw pucks at the net and play more of a direct attack as opposed to a controlled attack in Europe. He’s shown that adjustment and came here and practice hard. He’s been given an opportunity, and he’s really stepped forward. In talking with him, he thinks it’s easier to play here than in the American League, because what happens is logical. When I was young, I used to think life was so logical.''
"Right now, we’ve talked to Erik and said enjoy what’s happening right now,''
Crawford said. "Come with a real strong work ethic, don’t take anything for granted and play as well as you can. I think that’s a pretty good way for a goaltender to be. He’s a long ways away from being a guy that should wrestle with the burden of being a No. 1 goalie on a good team. First of all, we’re not a good team yet. Second of all, he hasn’t put enough of a body of work together to get that distinction. That’s no slight on him. We like what we see. He’s got some great characteristics. Of all the goalies we’ve had of the young variety, he shows the most promise right now. We were talking as coaches and we said this is the same feeling we got with (Jonathan Bernier) at the start of the year. Very efficient in their movement and very efficient in saves and execution they go through. As far as the other things that make goalies great, it’s experience and knowing and having a book on people, and he definitely doesn’t have that yet, nor should he be expected to.’’
"We gave up one good rush chance. That’s pretty good, if you can keep a good rush team down to one great rush. They had a couple from the outside, but those we expect our goaltenders to have. You can never stop a team outright. At least I haven’t seen anybody do it. We were pleased with how we played. We’ll have to continue to play like that if we hope to be successful from Montreal.’’
Los Angeles Kings
Jason LaBarbera (Groin injury on 2/21/08) IR
Ladislav Nagy (Sore neck on 1/19/08) IR
Montréal Canadiens
Steve Begin (Groin injury on 2/29/08) day-to-day
***No Recent Meetings***
Here are the results from PAST meetings:
12/03/05 - Kings @ Canadiens 3-2 (Canadiens win)
03/06/04 - Canadiens @ Kings 4-2 (Canadiens win)
03/08/03 - Canadiens @ Kings 2-1 (Kings win)
11/09/02 - Kings @ Canadiens 3-1 (Canadiens win)
12/22/01 - Kings @ Canadiens 2-1 (Canadiens win)
03/06/01 - Canadiens @ Kings 4-3 (Kings win)
Leading Scorers:
Forwards: 
Kopitar, LA - 66 points (28 G, 38 A, -17) |
Kovalev, MON - 72 points (29 G, 43 A, +11) Defensemen: 
Visnovsky, LA - 36 points (6 G, 30 A, -21) |
Markov, MON - 53 points (14 G, 39 A, -2) 
Former (Recent) King: 
Tom Kostopoulos, MON - 9 points (4 G, 5 A, -8)
GAA:
LA – 3.26 (30th in NHL)
MON – 2.75 (15th in NHL)
Avg. Goals:
LA – 2.80 (12th in NHL)
MON – 3.13 (1st in NHL)
Power Play %:
LA – 18.1 (13th in NHL)
MON – 25.0 (1st in NHL)
Penalty Kill %:
LA – 79.2 (27th in NHL)
MON – 80.1 (26th in NHL)
(As of 3/7/08)
Pacific Division Standings:
1. Dallas Stars (41-24-5) 87 pts
2. San Jose Sharks (39-21-8) 86 pts
3. Anaheim Ducks (38-25-7) 83 pts
4. Phoenix Coyotes (34-29-5) 73 pts
5. Los Angeles Kings (27-37-5) 59 pts
Western Conference Standings:
1 Red Wings 94
2 Stars 87
3 Flames 80
4 Sharks 86
5 Ducks 83
6 Wild 80
7 Avalanche 78
8 Predators 78
9 Canucks 76
10 Coyotes 73
11 Blackhawks 72
12 Blue Jackets 71
13 Oilers 69
14 Blues 68
15 Kings 59
Bottom of the Cellar Standings:
20 Blackhawks 72 points, 14 games remaining
21 Capitals 72 points, 14 games remaining
22 Islanders 71 points, 13 games remaining
23 Blue Jackets 71 points, 13 games remaining
24 Maple Leafs 70 points, 13 games remaining
25 Panthers 70 points, 12 games remaining
26 Oilers 69 points, 14 games remaining
27 Blues 68 points, 15 games remaining
28 Thrashers 67 points, 13 games remaining
29 Lightning 60 points, 14 games remaining
30 Kings 59 points, 13 games remaining
Key/Division Games Tonight:
Capitals @ Bruins 10:00 AM PST | 1:00 PM EST
Stars @ Avalanche 12:00 PM PST | 3:00 PM EST
Senators @ Coyotes 4:00 PM PST | 7:00 PM EST
Devils @ Maple Leafs 4:00 PM PST | 7:00 PM EST
Islanders @ Flyers 4:00 PM PST | 7:00 PM EST
Sabres @ Hurricanes 4:00 PM PST | 7:00 PM EST
Thrashers @ Panthers 4:00 PM PST | 7:00 PM EST
Blues @ Canucks 7:00 PM PST | 10:00 PM EST