Nashville Predators at Kings - pregame primer and contest

It's the third game in four night for the Kings and things won't be any easier than they have been recently.

Jonathan Bernier needs his first win of the season. Drew Doughty and Dustin Penner need their first goals. Anze Kopitar needs some help. Terry Murray needs to see a sign of life from his club that extends beyond the random 10-minute stretches he's seen of late. GM Dean Lombardi needs all of the above and more.

Bottom line, LA needs a victory...badly.

Here's a few pregame notes to get you ready for tonight's action...

- Bernier: When a goalie has only played 34 games in the NHL it's hard to talk about his 'best numbers,' but here something stands out. Bernier has played five games vs. the Preds, going 4-1 with a 1.80 goals-against average and .940 save percentage. If you like trends, take note that Bernier has also posted a .98 goals-against on Tuesdays - his only day of the week with a number under 2.00. Three of his four career shutouts have been on...yes, Tuesdays.

Kings - Predators Preview w/ Nashville's Marcel Goc

Against many odds, the Nashville Predators continue to find ways to win enough games to make the playoffs year after year. Last season marked their fifth post season appearance in the last six years.

Yet somehow, coach Barry Trotz, the second-longest tenured coach in the NHL behind only Buffalo’s Lindy Ruff, is repeatedly over looked for Coach of The Year honors.

In net, things are pretty solid with 6'5" Pekka Rinne. On defense, their young Canadian-American duo of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter rivals the Kings' Drew Doughty / Jack Johnson tandem, in terms of talent and future upside.

They also have another good one on the way in Ryan Ellis, the Team Canada captain who was just voted top defenseman of the World Junior Championship yesterday.

Offensively, well...they're still searching for the right mix of responsible forwards and ones skilled enough to put the puck in the net on a regular basis. For now, it continues to be 'scoring by committee.'

They're biggest off-season move was signing center Matthew Lombardi away from the Phoenix Coyotes - something that should have given them more team speed, in addition to some goals. Unfortunately, he's been out with a concussion since the second game.

They still had Steve Sullivan, a Kings killer (more on that here), up until two weeks ago - he's now out with a lower body injury.  Plus, they recently lost Jordin Tootoo for an unspecified period of time when he admitted himself into the league's Substance Abuse Program.

One bright spot through all of the team's challenges though has been Marcel Goc.  They signed the German-born center to a free agent contract in the summer of 2009 and it's been paying dividends. His 30 points (12g, 18a) last year were career highs and he's on pace to surpass them again this season. He comes into tonight's game with 16 points (7g, 9a).

This morning I spoke with Goc for a quick preview of tonight's game...

MM:  You've faced the Kings twice so far this season.  What have you seen from them that's different, if anything, compared to what you remember from last year?