Bruins desperately seeking a win vs. Kings

by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Jan 30, 2010 4:18 PM EST in Game Previews

The Bruins will try to avoid being the jesters as they host the Kings tonight at TD Garden. The Bruins have now lost 6 straight games and are just 1-8-1 in their last 10 contests. The Bruins hope to avoid their first 7-game losing streak since 1997. Meanwhile the LA Kings are riding a 4-game streak.

Know Your Enemy

Los Angeles Kings (31-19-3)

Head Coach: Terry Murray

SB Nation's New Kings Blog: Jewels From The Crown

SB Nation's Left Coast Hockey Blog: Battle of California

Leading Scorer:

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Anze Kopitar	22	31	53	7	10

Goaltending:

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Jonathan Quick	48	2879	29	16		123	2.56	1318	1195	.907	1

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Erik Ersberg	7	336	2	3		18	3.21	152	134	.882	0

Injury Report

Boston: Andrew Ference (out, groin), Marco Sturm (doubtful, leg), Steve Begin (questionable, lower body)

Los Angeles Kings Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Jack Johnson	arm	01/30/2010
Justin Williams	ankle	12/27/2009
Davis Drewiske	shoulder	01/05/2010
Andrei Loktionov	shoulder	11/26/2009

Notes:

- The Bruins have not won at home since the Winter Classic on New Years Day at Fenway Park. They haven't won at TD Garden since December 30th when they beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-0. Their current 5-game home losing streak is tied for the second longest home losing streak in franchise history. The '24-'25 Bruins lost 11 straight in their first season in the National Hockey League.

- Steve Begin (lower body) could make his return to the lineup tonight.

- Kings defenseman Jack Johnson will miss tonight's game with an arm injury and will likely be replaced in the lineup by Randy Jones, a man who is widely considered a villian by the Bruins Faithful.

- Bookmakers seem to think that tonight could be the night that the B's snap out of this funk. Most have the Bruins as a slight favorite. Most money lines have the Bruins at between -120 and -130.

- The Bruins and Kings met just 2 weeks ago. The Bruins lost 4-3 in a shootout on the Kings home ice.

- Due to the schedule of back-to-back games, the Bruins did not hold a morning skate today.

- For the second straight night, Bruins fans will likely get the chance to see their team face one of Team USA's goalies.

- For more on tonight's game, be sure to check out Jewels From The Crown. Jewel From The Crown is the newest edition to the SBN Hockey Crew. We now have a team-specific blog for all 30 NHL teams.

- The game starts at 7:00 and can be seen on NESN. The Public Skate open thread starts at 6:30. I promise I'll remember to post one this time.