With every passing day, the possibility grows that for a fourth straight season, the Kings and Oilers will meet in round one of the NHL’s postseason. If that’s to be the case, Monday night is a potential preview of what is yet to come. After a frustrating loss in Calgary two nights ago, LA will look to bounce back against an Edmonton team they beat in overtime at Crypto.com Arena just a few weeks ago.
Not so fast, though. Doing it on home ice is a totally different animal than scoring a road victory. Digging further, the Kings have lost three straight games in Edmonton and haven’t won a regular season game there since Nov. 2022, when Trevor Moore had a hat trick — in a game that predates Jim Hiller as the head coach.
What LA’s bench boss has to work with on his blueline for tonight remains a question at the moment. Joel Edmundson has been dealing with a lingering injury for the past 10 days, yet is believed to be close to a return. It’s true that LA has played exceptionally well defensively pretty much all season, however, it’s almost a stay afloat until reinforcements arrive mindset because Mikey Anderson and Vladislav Gavrikov are playing more minutes than ever before.
Offensively things have also dried up with two or fewer goals being scored in three straight games. Keep an eye on Moore. He’s been struggling thus far, in what’s been a bizarre season coming off a 30-goal campaign just last year. After spending time on the fourth line recently when he returned from injury — with goal-scoring hard to come by right now — Hiller is surely looking for some of his middle-of-the-lineup guys to really help get things going.
Games against Edmonton are almost always decided by special teams’ performance. Unfortunately, the Kings power play has been almost embarrassingly bad on the road this season clicking at just 9%. That won’t get the job done, especially against a team like Edmonton.
Statistically Speaking
— When the Kings score three goals or more this season, they’re 20-2-0.
— Quinton Byfield has nine points (4G, 5A) in his last five games against the Oilers, dating back to Dec. 30, 2024.
— Both teams come into play tonight with a +22 goal differential.
— The Kings and Oilers have been the best two teams in the NHL since November 27th, each above a .775 points percentage.
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Oilers
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Turcotte – Kopitar – Kempe
Foegele – Byfield – Moore
Fiala – Danault – Laferriere
Jeannot – Helenius – Lewis
Anderson – Gavrikov
Moverare – Spence
Edmundson – Clarke
Kuemper (starter)
Rittich
Likely scratches: (F) Thomas and (D) Burroughs, Englund
Injured Reserve: Doughty
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 6:30 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 4-3 win over Chicago on Saturday. Here’s how they lined up for that contest:
Arvidsson – McDavid – Hyman
Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Kapanen
Janmark – Henrique – Brown
Skinner – Ryan – Perry
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Stecher
Kulak – Emberson
Skinner
On This Day in Kings History
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