2The Kings have won two of the last three Stanley Cups after going 45 years without winning one. Projected Roster HEAD COACH: DARRYL SUTTER LW C RW 1st Line: Marian Gaborik Anze Kopitar Dustin Brown 2nd Line: Tanner Pearson Jeff Carter Tyler Toffoli 3rd Line: Dwight King Jarret Stoll Justin Williams 4th Line: Kyle Clifford Mike Richards Trevor Lewis D D #1 Jake Muzzin Drew Doughty #2 Robyn Regehr Slava Voynov #3 Alec Martinez Matt Greene G Starter Jonathan Quick Backup Martin Jones Scoreboard 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 PLAYOFF FINISH Stanley Cup Finals Conf Finals Stanley Cup Finals Conf QF Conf QF REGULAR SEASON 46-28-8 27-16-5 40-27-15 46-30-6 46-27-9 POINT TOTAL 100 59 95 98 101 SHOOTOUT RECORD 8-6 2-4 6-9 10-2 10-8 GOALS SCORED 206 133 194 219 241 GOALS ALLOWED 174 118 179 198 219 POWER PLAY % 15.1 19.9 17.0 16.1 20.8 PENALTY KILL % 83.1 83.2 87.0 85.5 80.3 bottom five teams in scoring again, but with their defensive mentality, the Kings are unlikely to score at a better than average rate in the 2014-15 season. Defense If there’s one thing the Kings have become synonymous with, it’s strong team defense. General manager Dean Lombardi has done a terrific job of building a group of players who play excellent defense. It starts with Drew Doughty, the former second overall draft pick and an excellent two-way defenseman. Doughty hasn’t scored as much as the team would like but he’s more than made up for it with improved play on the defensive end of the ice. The team also got a huge boost from the return of Willie Mitchell, who missed the entire 2012-13 season. It should not be seen as a coincidence that the Kings won the Stanley Cup in the last two seasons Mitchell played. Mitchell is now 37 years old and gone in free agency to Florida – while the Kings have plenty of strong defenders to fill that void, the impact Mitchell had on the Kings defense should not be underestimated. Just as the Kings have forwards who play well on both ends of the ice, they have defensemen who do the same thing. Alec Martinez was not only the man who won the Stanley Cup, he was a very solid two-way defenseman throughout the season, scoring 11 goals and playing solid defense. The same could be said of Slava Voynov, who chipped in with 30 assists. Jake Muzzin has a good shot as well and made a nice improvement on defense in his second NHL season. With Mitchell gone, Robyn Regehr and Matt Greene will take over as the top defensive options. Both players are big, physical defensemen who are very tough to beat. Overall, the Kings definitely have the pieces in place to be a very strong defensive team once again.
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