Bruins vs. Kings 1/5/23 PREVIEW: B’s take Los Angeles!
Just the Facts
Time: 10:30 PM EST
Venue: My Apes Gone Arena in Los Angeles, California
Where to watch: NESN
Where to listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub
SBNation blog counter: Normally I would say Jewels from the Crown, but due to California law, almost all Californian blogs except Fear the Fin are dead. We will miss them very much.
Know thy enemy: Gabe Vilardi is the King of Kings in scoring, leading LA with 16 in 39 games. Kevin Fiala meanwhile remains the leader in points, with 39 points in 41 games. On the power play, there are two names to watch out for: Victor Arvidsson (and Fiala) who leads the Kings in power play points with 12 in 37 games, and Arthur Kaliyev; reigning goalscorer for the black and silver with 7 in 34. Anyway, Kaliyev is out at the moment so uh…huh. So far, an unsung hero of the Kings this year is Trevor Moore, who while not leading in any typical category, has been a possessive demon for LA; right up there with archetypal 200-foot center Phillip Danault. Unfortunately, he’s also currently day-to-day, so we’ll be monitoring to see if he comes in tonight. Drew Doughty is still here. He’s still pretty good. I have nothing else, he is just like that. Thanks to a crazy game against Seattle, Phoenix Copley has become a key player for the Kings in his first 10 starts; winning 9 of them and posting a .908% SV. Maybe not ideal for a team looking to play for Vegas, but that’s a lot better than Jonathan Quick, who is nursing a brutal .884 SV%. Game Preview:
Man, I hope you enjoyed that little bit of home entertainment at a reasonable hour in the Winter Classic, because now the Bruins begin a very heavy road trip in January, starting with the annual “why god why is this game at 10:30” visit to California ; starting with LA.
LA is the only good team in California right now; having plenty of exciting young talent playing up to expectations, having finally figured out what it takes to survive a rapidly heating up (goal) Pacific Division, and finishing second in command there, as well being 7-2- 1 over last 10; which includes some losses you’d probably rather forget, but at least it gives the Bostonians and Angelinos the odd shared experience of losing to the Coyotes in Tempe.
So far their Achilles heel has been defending, which is not good, and goal shooting, which is probably worse. But! As Boston already learned this year, they won’t let you relax for a second. Given the B’s current struggles to get starts on time and the fact that they will be missing Jake DeBrusk, one would imagine that Coach Montgomery is impressing upon them the importance of a full 60 minute effort while they are there. Being the best third period team in the league may not matter if you dig yourself a hole too deep to crawl out of.
Put on a coffee pot, this is going to be fun!
