The last time these two teams met — Nov. 3 at Staples Center — the Kings’ won the stylistic battle. Size and structure trumped speed and skill — 3-2 in overtime.
Two days after facing a similar team in the Bruins, the Penguins will be looking to handle Los Angeles better when they meet in the rematch tonight at PPG Paints Arena.
“We have to stick to our own team identity and try to play our game,” coach Mike Sullivan said.
What’s that mean?
Using their speed. Taking care of the puck. Forcing the Kings to defend all 200 feet.
And what’s that do?
“That’s how we control momentum,” Sullivan said. “We control territory. We cut our chances against down. We create opportunity.”
I remember that game in L.A. In addition to Staples Center being about as cold as it is outside right now — or so it seemed — there was zero pace to the game early on.
That’s how the Kings want it. You could have napped four times and not missed much.
The Penguins, if they’re going to stretch their winning streak to eight, can’t get forced into such boring, whistle-heavy play.
“They’re going to try and limit our speed and be physical on us,” Sullivan said. “We have to make sure we embrace that challenge.”
From morning skate
Matt Murray was the first goalie off the ice, and he’s expected to start. That move surprises me.
Marc-Andre Fleury has been markedly better at home than he has on the road, and Murray’s an Ontario boy — thus he’d get to start at Air Canada Centre tomorrow.
The skate was optional, which meant no Sidney Crosby, Patric Hornqvist, Evgeni Malkin or Phil Kessel. There’s no indication any of the four are in danger of missing tonight’s game.
No looks at lines or pairs since it was optional, but Eric Fehr and Steve Oleksy were out way late. I wouldn’t expect changes to the lines. We’ll have to see in warmup how they address the absence of Kris Letang.
The Kings played last night, so they did not skate. Former Penguin Jeff Zatkoff played, too, beating the Red Wings. So I would expect Peter Budaj to start.
Speaking of that …
Much talk about how the Penguins will go about replacing Letang.
Last year, they stunk at it. Their record in the 11 games he was out: 2-8-1. It’s been better in 206-17. Letang has missed five games, and the Penguins have won four of them.
How they replace him will be key tonight.
“It’s obviously not the best situation when he’s out of our lineup, but it’s something we have to deal with it,” Brian Dumoulin said. “All of us have been stepping up a little bit more and chipping away at it. Hopefully it’s not for too long.”
From a practical standpoint, I’d expect Justin Schultz to jump up to the top power play alongside Trevor Daley. The Penguins are seven for their past 14 utilizing two defensemen here, so why change?
Derrick Pouliot, recalled yesterday to take Letang’s roster spot, could slot onto the second unit with Dumoulin.
As for who plays with whom, that’s more complicated. Sullivan said this morning that Ian Cole has the most experience among Penguins left-handed shots playing the right side.
Daley and Schultz play the right side. The Penguins will need someone among Olli Maatta, Pouliot, Dumoulin and Cole to jump over there, and I’d argue Cole is less likely because of the success he’s had alongside Schultz.
I actually wouldn’t be surprise to see Pouliot play the right side. Keep Dumoulin and Daley as your top pair; they’ve played together quite a bit. Maatta and Pouliot on the second — or maybe call this the third — and you don’t have to break up Cole and Schultz.
Suppose it comes down to who’s more comfortable playing on their off-side, Maatta or Pouliot.
Pouliot searching for comfortability
His stint in Wilkes-Barre won’t exactly generate book ideas a decade from now, but Pouliot is trying to, as quickly as he can, catch up with the speed of the game.
The lower-body injury he suffered Oct. 20 isn’t an issue. Feeling comfortable, though, has been.
“Physically I feel good,” Pouliot said. “It might just be a little bit of adjusting to the speed again. It takes a little bit of time to really get back into that rhythm. You see how the D men here are playing right now. Eventually I’ll work my way back to that.”
Pouliot has played in a total of seven games in the AHL this season — three on a conditioning assignment — and is a minus-4 in those games. For the best team in the league, no less.
Quick hits, numbers and notes
• Kings are 5-8-1 on the road,, while the Penguins are 6-0-1 against the Pacific Division
• Penguins have won seven in a row overall, six straight at home. They’re 9-2 in their last 11. … They’re 8-3-2 in their last 13 games against the Kings but 0-1-2 in the past three.
• Crosby has yet to go back-to-back games without a goal this season. He didn’t score Wednesday. If Crosby scores tonight, he’ll have a 10-game point streak. Since the beginning of last season, there have been 11 scoring streaks of 10 or more games. Crosby will have had three of them.
• Schultz leads all NHL defensemen with four goals and 11 points in December. He has five goals in his last eight games.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: December 16, 2016, 5:38 p.m.
