The Bruins will close out their quick West Coast swing in Los Angeles on Monday night, but don't expect an early finish to this one.
Beyond the 10:30 p.m. ET start time, there's also the fact that the Bruins and Kings tend to take their time to settle things. The last four meetings between the clubs have all gone beyond regulation, with the last three going to shootouts. And the Kings have won all four of those matchups, including a 4-3 victory at the Garden on Nov. 20 when Michal Handzus scored the only goal in a six-round shootout after the Bruins rallied for a 3-0 deficit to force overtime.
Maybe knowing that it would be a long night, Claude Julien scrapped the Bruins morning skate in Los Angeles, while the Kings held just an optional.
That means no early indication on any lineup changes or who will start in goal, but it will likely be another matchup between Tim Thomas and Jonathan Quick. Thomas is coming off a strong showing in Saturday's 6-2 win in Colorado and remains atop the NHL with a 1.83 GAA, .945 save percentage and seven shutouts to go along with a 23-4-6 record. He has yet to beat L.A. in his career though, going 0-0-4 despite a 2.46 GAA and .913 save percentage.
Quick is a perfect 4-0-0 against Boston with three shootout wins and another in OT. The UMass product has a 2.32 GAA and a .919 save percentage against the Bruins, and is 20-14-1 with a 2.22 GAA, .917 save percentage and four shutouts this season.
With Marc Savard back in Boston to be evaluated for the head injury suffered Saturday, Julien shuffled his lines in Sunday's practice. The combination of David Krejci, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton that opened the season on fire has been reunited, while Tyler Seguin moves back to center between Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder and Daniel Paille reenters the lineup on a line with Greg Campbell and Shawn Thornton.
Only the line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Mark Recchi remains unchanged. There's no reason to mess with that combinations, which has combined for 17 goals and 33 points in the last nine games since being put together.
On defense, Julien will again have a tough choice to make with seven healthy blueliners all playing well. Mark Stuart was the odd man out with Adam McQuaid returning to the lineup on Saturday. The decision will likely come down to those two again.
The Kings aren't expected to make any changes in their lineup after beating Phoenix 4-3 on Saturday to snap a three-game losing streak. Defenseman Rob Scuderi missed practiced Sunday, but is expected to play on Monday. That would leave enforcer Kevin Westgarth and defensemen Peter Harrold and Davis Drewiske as the scratches again.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler-Tyler Seguin-Michael ryder
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Steven Kampfer
Dennis Seidenberg-Johnny Boychuk
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Marc Savard (head), Mark Stuart
Projected Kings lines
Forwards
Andrei Loktionov-Anze Kopitar-Dustin Brown
Ryan Smyth-Jarret Stoll-Justin Williams
Alexei Ponikarovsky-Michal Handzus-Brad Richardson
Kyle Clifford-Trevor Lewis-Wayne Simmonds
Defense
Drew Doughty-Willie Mitchell
Jack Johnson-Rob Scuderi
Matt Greene-Alec Martinez
Goalies
Jonathan Quick
Jonathan Bernier
Scratches: Kevin Westgarth, Peter Harrold, Davis Drewiske
