LA Kings at New Jersey Devils - three things to watch for

Tonight's game between the Los Angeles Kings and new Jersey Devils will feature a pair of homecomings and a season debut.

The two clubs last met on October 30, 2010 in LA and the Kings were victorious 3-1, led by goals from Justin Williams and Jarret Stoll.

Here are three things to watch for on each side of the puck when things get going a little later this afternoon...

New Jersey Devils:

- The four-minute man returns: Cam Janssen was originally drafted by the Devils in 2002. However, he spent the last three-plus seasons with his hometown St. Louis Blues. This summer, he signed a free agent contract to return to New Jersey. Tonight he'll make his season debut. In his MayorsManor interview last season he talked about scouting Kyle Clifford prior to playing the Kings. So, what's in store there?

- Power play: New Jersey has converted on just 10% of their chances with the man advantage this season (one goal in 10 tries). Granted, they've only played two games. However, that's not too far off their 14% conversion rate last year, which was third worst in the league.

- Harrold Watch 2011: If you circled this game on your calendar in the hopes of seeing former Kings defenseman Peter Harrold, you'll probably be sad to hear he won't be in the line-up. Or even in the building for that matter. He's now in Albany, with the Devils AHL farm team.

LOS ANGELES KINGS:

Westgarth on Fight Rules, Clifford's KO, Scrap with Cam

On Friday we heard from Kings coach Terry Murray regarding the multiple fights in Thursday's night game versus the St. Louis Blues.

He said he thought Kevin Westgarth's scrap with Cam Janssen was "absolutely what the team needed" and said Kyle Clifford's injury was one of the "consequences of playing that role."

Which is something I wanted to get Westgarth's perspective on...

MM: How tough was it to watch the Clifford fight (video here)? He hasn't really been rocked at all this year.

KW: It's going to happen. He just missed his grab there and was trying to, essentially, punch himself out of the miss. He just got tagged by one. It knocked him down. But, I think we saw right away he was back up. He would have gladly gotten back into it. He's a young guy, just tough as nails. He scares a lot of the other guys (on other teams) and fights pretty wide open. That's going to happen every once and a while. He's got a lot to learn, as we all do. You have to adjust. I know this year my fighting style has kind of ebb and flowed with the guys I've fought. It's going to happen. We're glad he's here though and we're glad he's all right.

MM: How about your fight with Janssen (video here)? Did things go as planned?

Update on Kyle Clifford and Last Night's Fights

Brad Richardson will be in the line-up tomorrow night, playing left wing.

That's per coach Terry Murray after practice today.

You can extrapolate from that the fact that rookie Kyle Clifford will get the night off. Murray also talked about Clifford a little when talking about Kevin Westgarth's fight last night vs. the Blues.

MM: Earlier in the season you talked about Westgarth needing to pick the right spots when engaging in a fight. Last night, early on in the game, was that the right time?

TM:  "I thought it was great. I really do. I think that was absolutely what the team needed. We didn't respond the right way, it's what we needed though going in. Coming off a road trip like that you need a player to really take on some of that responsibility to fire your team up and say 'Hey, we're here to play. We're here to compete,' and he did the right thing. So did Clifford. He responds the right way to get us going. These are rookie players. Westgarth is a young guy, but a rookie. And Cliffy's 19 years old (MM: actually 20) and he recognized the need for something, again, to spark a fire here. He tried to do the right thing."

Regarding Clifford not coming back into the game, he went on to say...

Blues' Janssen Still Studying Clifford and Westgarth?

Had it not been for several injuries, "I believe the St. Louis Blues could have challenged the Detroit Red Wings for the division title this season." Blues radio play-by-play guy, Chris Kerber, on NHL radio yesterday afternoon.

That's one man's opinion.

However, at this point, the St. Louis Blues don't have much to play for - except pride.

They last made the playoffs under former Kings coach Andy Murray two seasons ago. He was then let go a few months into the following season when it was thought the team was underachieving. Ninth place was where they finished then and they currently sit in 13th place.

So, in many respects they may be further away from postseason play than they were two years ago.  Add to that the fact that some of their best players were traded away over the last month and now their most veteran presence is Andy MacDonald - yes, the former Duck.

Even so, the Kings can't take this game lightly - especially considering the Blues have won all three games between the two teams this season.

Cam Janssen's Five Minute Major Preview: LA v StL

Cam Janssen is in his sixth NHL season, the last four with the St. Louis Blues. He's posted only two goals while racking up 589 penalty minutes in 219 games. It's what you call 'knowing your role.'

In the interview below he helps us preview tonight's Kings - Blues game. We talk about LA's tough guys, playing for his hometown team, scouting NHL enforcers, BizNasty's tweets, Keith Tkachuk's retirement, adding Jaroslav Halak...and he even gives a prediction for the game.

MM: Although the Blues didn't make the playoffs last year and the Kings did, you guys took the season series from LA 3-1. Tonight will be the first match-up this season. What will be the keys to the game?

CJ: They're a good young, skilled team. They're playing good solid hockey right now and they're one of the best teams in the Western Conference. We have a lot of injuries right now. So, we have to come out and immediately get our feet going on our forecheck.  Also, the first five strikes back are so key for us. Catching up with an odd man rush or what could be an odd man rush is important, knowing that we don't have the skill or power we're used to because of our injuries. So, we need to be effective with our details - that's skating hard, being in the right position and back checking with a purpose. The Kings offense is good. So, if we don't do that, they're going to take advantage of us.

Over the summer there were a few significant changes to the Blues' line-up. What were your first thoughts when you heard goaltender Jaroslav Halak was coming to St. Louis?