#LAKings Projected Lineups – LA Kings at Colorado Avalanche; a Rare March Road Game (MayorsMan

As the Kings prepare to play a rare road game this month — against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, no less — here’s a stat that may be hard to process:
LA enters Wednesday’s game with more wins on the season (37) than Colorado (35).
Breaking things down even further reveals the Kings have played three more games, 65 to 62. However, the ‘points percentage’ column of the NHL standings is designed to equalize everything out. In that area, LA is back to having the advantage, playing at a .631 clip compared to .613 by Colorado.
Numbers aside, tonight’s game is an interesting matchup for several other reasons.
Prior to boarding their plane at LAX and heading to Denver, the Kings recalled defenseman Jordan Spence. Part of that is due to the apparent injury suffered by Sean Durzi on Monday vs. Washington. Don’t take anything away from Spence, though. He has been wearing an ‘A’ on his jersey in AHL Ontario this year, which is quite the compliment for a second-year pro. It shouldn’t be that surprising if you look back at what he’s accomplished over the past five years. He went from being Rookie of the Year in the QMJHL to Defenseman of the Year. Then, last year, in his first pro season, he ended up playing 24 NHL games and never looked out of place. To say his development is ahead of the curve would be both an understatement and a testament to the work put in by the 22-year-old. Spence’s offensive chops have always been there; he’s now added defensive responsibilities to his tool kit. As such, it will be interesting to see how coach Todd McLellan chooses to deploy him tonight.
Spence could simply take Durzi’s spot in the lineup, playing on the right side of the third pair, alongside Alex Edler. A second option would be to put Spence at RD2 with Vlad Gavrikov and let Matt Roy slide down to the third pair. An offshoot of that option could also see Sean Walker enter at LD3, reuniting him with Roy as a pair. Or, and we believe this is the most likely option, Spence and Walker could be paired as the third unit.
Up front, Trevor Moore has been activated from IR. As noted with the Spence call-up yesterday, no corresponding move is necessary, as the NHL doesn’t hold to the 23-maximum player limit following the NHL Trade Deadline. More on that entire topic here:
Now, what does that mean for the forward group? Again, like with Spence, there are multiple scenarios available to McLellan. Given the fact Zack MacEwen is likely out of tonight’s game, we’re expecting Moore to replace him as the LW4. This causes the least disruption to McLellan’s lineup; something he usually favors coming off of a few wins. And, given McLellan’s recent comments about several guys coming back from injury this year needing a few weeks to really ramp back up into ‘push for the playoffs’ hockey, that would make sense.
If you like to gamble, throw a few dollars on Anze Kopitar scoring. In his career, he has 53 points (18G, 35A) in 59 games against the Avalanche.
LA Kings Projected Lineup vs. Colorado AvalancheByfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Danault – Arvidsson
Iafallo – Lizotte – Vilardi
Moore – Kupari – Grundstrom
Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Walker – Spence
Korpisalo
Copley
Scratches: Anderson-Dolan, Durzi, Edler, Kaliyev
Key Game InfoPuck drop is set for 6:00 pm PST and will be televised by Bally Sports.
Across the IceIn their last game played, the Avs shutout the Sharks 6-0 on Tuesday. In an odd scheduling note, this is the third straight game where the Kings will be facing a team coming off a game vs. San Jose.
Here’s how Colorado lined up for that one:
Both Kurtis MacDermid and Josh Manson are not expected to play tonight.
On This Day in Kings HistoryRELATED CONTENT:Follow @mayorNHL


Lineup image created by ALo Images
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