Gamenight: Kings - Blues

It should be a battle of special teams tonight when the Blues face off against the Kings, as the NHL's top ranked power play unit will butt heads with a Los Angeles penalty kill unit that has yet to surrender a goal.

However, as tenacious as LA has looked defensively so far this season, their offense has been anything but clicking. Only Tampa Bay has managed to score less goals than the King's mark of 14 so far this season.

Meanwhile only two teams, Colorado (28 goals) and Buffalo (26), have scored more often than St. Louis (25). Both of those teams have played an extra game.

The one bright spot offensively for the Kings is former Blue Michal Handzus, who leads LA in both goals (2) and assists (3). Star in the making Anze Kopitar has not looked impressive yet scoring only once and getting two helpers.

Drew Doughty, the second pick overall in June, notched his first goal against Colorado on Monday. So far he's made an immediate impact to the team, averaging 21 minutes of ice time per game.

Tonight's game had the potential to show off some of the game's rising defensive stars, as these rosters feature four defensemen who have gone in the top-five of the last four drafts. However, only Doughty will play tonight.

LA's Jack Johnson (not the singer) is out with a shoulder injury. No truth to the rumor that it was from making banana pancakes. He'll be sitting, waiting, wishing along with Blues Alex Pietroangelo, still suffering from the effects of a hit by resident douchebag Ryan Hollweg, and Erik Johnson who should never step near a golf cart again for the rest of his life.



Most importantly tonight could be the NHL debut of St. Louisan Ben Bishop who is up with the big club while Chris Mason is recovering from an appendectomy.

Considering the Blues played Wednesday against Detroit and have back to back games tonight and tomorrow, it would make sense to see Manny get some rest either tonight or tomorrow against Florida. Unless, of course Skeletor thinks playing his starter against two crappy teams is a better idea than giving Big Ben a shot.

Update:
The P-D's Jeremy Rutherford has confirmed that Legace will be in net tonight.