Still a week away from postseason action, the Kings will get a quasi sneak peak at their first round opponent tonight as they are in Edmonton to take on the Oilers — who will be without Connor McDavid and Zach Hymen, among others.
All things considered, a preview isn’t really needed by any means, as these clubs have grown all too familiar with each other over the last three seasons. With a trio of games remaining in the regular season, LA has a magic number of two points to clinch home-ice advantage in the first round. Any combination of a Kings win or Oilers loss over the next six days will result in Game 83 taking place at Crypto.com Arena.
Big-picture-wise, there likely won’t be much to glean from tonight’s contest considering each side has a combination of injuries and players sitting out to rest up for a playoff run. The twenty guys who suit up for both squads will surely not match the twenty we see next Sunday when they begin a best-of-7 battle. That being said, Kings coach Jim Hiller will look for his group to make a statement on the road and maybe gain some confidence heading into what could be another dogfight with Edmonton.
If nothing else, Drew Doughty’s expected return to action should give an emotional boost to the LA bench.
Statistically Speaking
— Andrei Kuzmenko has scored five goals and nine points in 11 career games against Edmonton.
— Kevin Fiala scored his 33rd and 34th goals of the season Saturday afternoon. In doing so, he established a new single season career-high in goals (34).
— Brandt Clarke recorded his 27th assist of the season while skating in his 100th career game on Saturday against Colorado, becoming the seventh defenseman selected in the 2021 NHL Draft to reach the century mark in games played.
— The Kings are 2-1-0 this season against the Oilers.
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Oilers
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Kuzmenko – Kopitar – Kempe
Foegele – Danault – Moore
Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere
Malott – Helenius – Lewis
Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Spence
Moverare – Clarke
Kuemper (starter)
Rittich
Likely scratches: (F) Thomas and (D) Burroughs, Edmundson
Injured: Turcotte (day-to-day, upper body), Jeannot (out for extended time period)
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm Pacific Time and will be televised locally by FanDuel Sports Network. Additionally, a Kings radio feed is available on the ESPN LA app (which is the new home for Kings radio this season, they’ve moved off of the iHeart platform).
More on the ongoing TV situation here.
Across the Ice
Edmonton is coming off a 4-1 victory over Winnipeg on Sunday. Here is how they lined up for that contest:
Skinner – McDavid – Brown
Podkolzin – Janmark – Arvidsson
Perry – Henrique – Ryan
Jones – Philp – Kapanen
Nurse – Bouchard
Kulak – Emberson
Dineen – Stecher
Skinner
On This Day in Kings History
MORE LA KINGS NEWS:
Follow @mayorNHL
Continue reading...
