Former Buffalo Sabres tender Jhonas Enroth was the first goaltender to leave the ice and will face fellow Swede Robin Lehner tonight.
Enroth will face his former team for the second time this season when he draws in for his 11th start tonight.
Enroth, 4-5-1 with a .926 SV% and a 2.19 GAA in 12 appearances this season, stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced in the Kings’ 2-1 OT loss to the Sabres on December 12.
Enroth’s previous start came on February 14 in New Jersey, where he made 17 saves on 18 shots in the Kings’ 1-0 loss to the Devils at the Prudential Cen
Here are the Kings' lines and D pairs from their morning skate (courtesy Kings Insider)
TRIOS:
LUCIC – KOPITAR – BROWN
KING – CARTER – TOFFOLI
PEARSON – LECAVALIER – LEWIS
CLIFFORD – SHORE – ANDREOFF
*MERSCH
On December 12, the Sabres beat the Kings 2-1 in OT.
Marian Gaborik was the only player to score for the Kings,
Jamie McGinn scored for the Sabres and fellow Irish Mafia member Ryan O’Reilly popped in this sexy, toe-drag beauty of an OOT GWG.
Enroth made 28 saves on 30 shots faced in the loss.
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Eichel, the Sabres’ #2 overall selection in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, will make his Hollywood debut tonight.
Eichel’s 41 points this season are the third-most among NHL rookies. He ranks fifth in goals (17) among rookies and third in assists (24). Eichel didn’t record any points in his first meeting with the Kings on December 12, but registered five shots in 20:16 minutes played.
**
The Kings haven’t surrendered a goal on home ice to the Sabres since their 4-2 loss to Buffalo on October 8, 2011. Since then, the Kings have racked up a pair of 2-0 shutout victories when hosting Buffalo. In the Kings’ 2-0 win against the Sabres at STAPLES Center last season on October 24, 2014, Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar scored, Carter led the Kings with two points (1G, 1A).
**
Lindy Ruff has seen this movie before.
His high flying club's high octane offense is being undermined by shoddy goaltending.
Ruff's veteran-laden Dallas Stars squad allowed a beaten up preoccupied Winnipeg Jets team to skate into thir house and pump them for six goals.
On Thursday night, he Jets traded their captain Andrew Ladd to the Chicago Blackhawks before the dust up in Dallas.
Which in itself should have served as a legit distraction to the Jets players. Had they given up six goals and lost to the Stars it would have been understandable. The shock and awe of the Ladd trade coupled with the bad news delivered from earlier Thursday that their number one pivot Bryan Little would be lost for the rest of the season due to a compression fracture in a spinal vertebrae set the table for a big let down in Big D for the Jets.
“I think we didn’t bring enough desperation and let them embarrass us,” said center Jason Spezza, who scored two goals in the Winnipeg waxing. Spezza was minus-2 .
“When we give up six goals at home, that’s unacceptable. I’m disappointed in myself, and I think we’re all disappointed in each other.”
Stars head coach Lindy Ruff and his coaching staff are scratching their heads right now.
They have been consistently spreading the gospel of finishing in first place in their division to earn a top playoff seed which will guarantee that the Stars will avoid at all costs a first-round, head to head clash of the titans pairing with the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks or the always salty St. Louis Blues.
It seems hard to believe, but the Dallas Stars have not won a division title since 2005-06.
Ruff told the Dallas News that raising a division tittle banner to the rafters has been a goal of his team this season.
“There’s a pride factor to it. It’s something that we want to do,” Ruff said. “It’s going to be a heck of a battle. I want to prepare this team to try to get to the top of the division and be the team we think we can be.”
Ok, Lindy. Easier said than done.
How do you explain your team taking a nap for three hours against a reeling Winnipeg team that is going to miss the playoffs?
The Jets (26-30-4) were begging for a butt-kicking by the Stars. Paul Maurice's team could have mailed it in, however, they deserve credit for hanging tough and focusing on the task at hand.
Lindy Ruff and his coaching staff have a great offensive team, however, it has it's share of warts that are now becoming more pronounced and visible.
“I thought our defense had a tough night with some breakdowns. I thought our goaltending had a tough night. We looked like a slow team. We didn’t play the game quick enough,” Ruff said after the disappointing loss to Winnipeg.
Antti Niemi was garbage. He allowed three goals on just eight shots in the first period. Kari Lehtonen played the final forty minutes and was none better than Niemi allowing 3 goals on 20 shots faced.
Niemi has been a sieve in his past four games. He is having a tough time. He is fighting the puck.
He allowed three goals against on just eight shots faced on Wednesday night. That's an .850 save percentage. Niemi also failed in his last five starts:
2/25 : He allowed 3 goals on 8 shots to Winnipeg. That's an .625 save %. He lost the game.
2/23: He allowed 3Gs on 25 shots to Winnipeg. That's an .880 save %. He won the game.
2/18: He allowed 5Gs on 41 shots to Arizona. That's an .878 save %. He lost the game.
2/15: He allowed 2Gs on 26 shots to Nashville. That's a .923 save %. He won the game.
2/6: He allowed 3 goals on 11 shots to Chicago. That's a .727 save %. He lost the game.
Kari Lehtonen played the final forty minutes against Winnipeg. The Stars rallied to tie the game in the third period,. Too little too late. Jets won it in the end. Lehtonen allowed 3 goals in ten minutes.
Lehtonen's last for starts have been a yard sale.
2/20 : He allowed 6 goals on 41 shots to Boston. That's an .854 save %. He lost the game.
2/16: He allowed 2Gs on 22 shots to St. Louis. That's a .909 save %. He lost the game.
2/13: He allowed 3Gs on 23 shots to Washington. That's an .870 save %. He won the game.
2/11: He allowed 2Gs on 46 shots to Chicago. That's a .957 save %. He won the game.
Ruff and his GM Jim Nill have been searhcing high and low for veteran defensemen who can help the Stars to immediately stabilize their shots against and their goals against. There are rumors of Vancouver trading veteran D Dan Hamhuis to Dallas. There are also rumors about Buffalo D Josh Gorges and Cody Franson being linked to Big D.
The NHL trade deadline is Monday and I expect Nill to be very busy. I will not be surprised if Nill adds a veteran backup goalie and two veteran defensemen.
Is it time to mash the panic button?
No. But, the 900 pound gorilla in the Dallas room is it's wonky goaltending. Sounds familiar, eh? Ruff and Nill traded Andres Lindback and a conditional third round pick in 2016 to Buffalo goalie Jhonas Enroth at the 2015 NHL trade deadline.
The reason? Niemi and Lehtonen were unreliable.
Same crap, different season.
Ruff and Nill have seen this movie before.
The Stars are still first place in the Central Division at 38-18-6 (82 points). They have played 62 games. The Hawks and Blues lost on Thursday night as well. Those two points lost could have helped build a bigger cushion.
The Stars are the most explosive goal scoring team in the NHL right now. They have scored 200 goals in 62 games played. That's #1 in the NHL at 3.23 goals per game.
However, their goaltending and D corps are playing at an unacceptable level and have been for the past couple of months.
The Stars rank 23rd in the NHL in goals against withy a 2.84 GAA. They have allowed 176 goals against in 62 games played.
Ruff goes to bed at night knowing that his goaltending and defense corps isn't good enough to make a long run in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“I’ve got to get this team in a different place,” Ruff said. “We won’t win games, obviously, with that many goals-against going in.”
The Stars were scouting Buffalo Sabres D Mike Weber as a possible solution to their problem. Ruff coached Weber in Buffalo and likes Weber's nastiness and shot blocking abilities. Weber was traded to Washington for a third round pick earlier this week. The Stars are also eyeing Buffalo D Josh Gorges and Cody Franson who each have a year remaining oin their current contracts.
The Stars have been scouting Buffalo backup goalie Chad Johnson, who is a pending UFA.
On Friday night, the St. Louis Blues traded for Edmonton backup goalie Anders Nilsson.
On Saturday afternoon the San Jose Sharks traded for goaltender James Reimer and forward Jeremy Morin from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for goaltender Alex Stalock, forward Ben Smith and a conditional 2018 fourth round draft selection.
Last night's win in San Jose was likely Johnson's last game as a Sabre.
He is now free to roam about the NHL. Johnson will become UFA on July 1.
Right now, Dallas is in first position for Chad Johnson, who is a capable puck stopper and a great teammate. He and rookie Linus Ullmark did yeoman's work filling in for the injured Robin Lehner earlier this season. Lehner missed 13 weeks with a high ankle sprain. Johnson was a solid and reliable tender who made his fair share of huge save to keep the Sabres in games.
Johnson is 29-years old and has compiled a respectable 14-14-3 record this season with a 2.45 GAA and .917 save percentage.
Johnson has played himself into hot demand and is being courted by several contenders right now. The San Jose Sharks are not happy with their backup tender
I think that it is imperative for Lindy Ruff and Jim Nill need to make a trade for Chad Johnson. He made 24 saves in Buffalo's 3-1 win over San Jose Friday night.
The Stars would be wise to trade Buffalo their 2016 and 2017 second round draft choices in order to snare Johnson and Gorges or Franson.
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