SoCal NHL Preview

Los Angeles (18-28-10) at Vancouver (25-17-5), 7:00 pm
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) - After a three-game winning streak, the Los Angeles Kings are back to looking like a last place team again. Anze Kopitar will try to help the Kings bounce back from a dreadful performance when they visit the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.

The 20-year-old Kopitar, who leads the club with 44 points, had his three-game point streak stopped in Friday's 6-1 setback to the Calgary Flames. "We made far too many mistakes, both in the offensive zone and in the defensive zone," Kings coach Marc Crawford said of the loss.

While Los Angeles has struggled against most of the NHL, it has had a lot success against Vancouver this season, besting the Western Conference rivals in their two previous meetings. The Kings came away with 4-2 victories on both October 19 and December 10, 2007. The Canucks have lost four of their last five contests, but have been very good on at General Motors Place recently. Since November 1, 2007, the club is 12-1-2 on home ice. After a shaky start to the campaign, Roberto Luongo is beginning to emerge as a Vezina Trophy candidate. The seven-year veteran is 21-14-4 with a 2.04 goals-against average and six shutouts. Luongo has been even more impressive at GM Place, registering 13 of his wins and all of his shutouts at home.