Opponent Notes
The Kings have played surprisingly well this season, and in no small part to young Anze Kopitar, who had been borderlining stardom and appears to finally have broken through. At 24 points, Kopitar has the current lead in the scoring race, though with one more game played than Alex Ovechkin. Ryan Smyth is right behind Kopitar with 19 points.
The offense has been wonderful in LA, and offensively, the Defense has been great, too. However, it's very difficult to keep up that offensive pace for 82 games or more. If the current state of fomer Penguin Rob Scuderi's +/- rating is any indication, the defense appears to be a little too offensive, and the Kings may have a monumental midseason collapse if their scorers all dry up at a similar time.
Of course, that'll be an interesting proving ground for Kopitar, as superstars rarely have scoring droughts that last very long. That, however is not a problem for the Kings at the moment, which could add up to problems for the Penguins.
The Kings aren't a team that can even pretend to use the Trap. While it will make for an interesting match, this game will probably be like a boxing match as far as scoring. A lot of fast goals and probably a high score. Too bad they didn't put it at a normal time for the East Coast fans. But, we'll probably get our share of high scoring games later this season.
Predictions
My Prediction: Kings steal this one, 8-5
Mr Mystic says: Kings win 5-3
Records (Correct-Wrong(Correct Score))
TH: 9-5(1)
MM: 9-5(1)
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