Tonight’s Game Preview: Los Angeles Kings at Edmonton Oilers

Tonight the Los Angeles Kings will look to get back to winning when they square off against the Edmonton Oilers.  Puck-drop is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. PST at Rexall Place.

The Kings enter the contest on a three-game losing streak.  After dropping their last two games of February to the Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks, the Kings started March off with a 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.

Prior to that L.A. had a pretty good February, winning a season-high eight games in a row.

Edmonton is coming off of a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.  The Oilers continue to be streaky.  Despite their top drafted, All-Star prospects offense the Oilers struggle to put the puck in the net.  In their last 5 games the Oilers scored 8 goals, for an average of 1.60 goals per game.  That’s almost as bad as the Buffalo Sabres.

If L.A. wants to continue their push to the playoffs in their last 20 games, then this one is a must win.

The Kings lineup is expected to be as follows:

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Puck Prose

Forwards:

Marian Gaborik – Anze Kopitar – Trevor Lewis

Dwight King – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli

Dustin Brown – Jarret Stoll – Justin Williams

Kyle Clifford – Nick Shore – Jordan Nolan

Defensemen:

Robyn Regehr – Drew Doughty

Jake Muzzin – Matt Greene

Brayden McNabb – Andrej Sekera

Goalies:

Jonathan Quick

Martin Jones

As the season gets closer to the playoffs, changes to the lineup will become less and less drastic.  Head coach Darryl Sutter is still tinkering with the defensive pairs due to the arrival of Andrej Sekera.

Drew Doughty has been a rock on the Kings blue line.  Doughty has put himself in the front of the discussion for the NHL’s Norris Trophy, awarded to the league’s best defensemen.  Carrying the team Doughty has more ice-time per game than any other player in the NHL, with 29:27 on average.

Feb 14, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty (8) and Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) go for the puck in the third period of the game at Staples Center. Kings won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Doughty plays have the game which relieves the burden of the rest of the defense.  Doughty is an invaluable piece of the Kings lineup.  He’s 4th on the team in points with 5 goals, 31 assists, 36 points, a +3 plus/minus, 48 penalty minutes, and 1 game-winning goal in 62 games.

Jonathan Quick is likely to be the starter for tonight’s game.  The Kings are accustomed to riding their star goaltender when it gets down to crunch time.  Quick had the night off on Friday when the Kings lost to the Anaheim Ducks 4-2.

Quick is considered by many to be the best goaltender in the world.  Though his numbers from this season don’t support the claim, his in-game play tells a different story.  Quick is currently ranked 32nd in the NHL in goals against average with a 2.40, and 37th in save percentage with a .914.

The first and third lines have been flip-flopping Dustin Brown and Trevor Lewis.  According to L.A. Kings Insider Jon Rosen, Lewis skated with first liner’s Marian Gaborik and Anze Kopitar yesterday during the Kings practice at Rexall Place.

The Kings third line of Brown, Stoll, and Williams has been quite effective this season.

Oilers to keep an eye on:

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Oil On Whyte

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is showing budding signs of development.  Nugent-Hopkins is second in points on the Oilers, and leads the team in goals.  In 61 games Nugent-Hopkins has 16 goals, 22 assists, 38 points, a -10 rating, and 1 power-play goal.

Nugent-Hopkins is talented with the puck.  He’s quick and shifty, but he’s small.  If the Kings want to control Nugent-Hopkins, the Oilers first line, and the flow of play they will have to be physically punishing tonight.

Justin Schultz is the Oilers top scoring defensemen.  That’s saying quite a bit.

The Oilers have dressed 11 different defensemen this season.  It’s safe to say the Oilers are having problems on D.  Edmonton has given up the 4th most goals against this season, allowing the puck to hit the back of their net 208 times.

Schultz has played in 62 games and has 5 goals, 18 assists, 23 points, and a -11 rating.  Schultz is an offensive, puck-moving defensemen.  He’s key to the Oilers breakout and moving the puck up-ice.  It’s not likely he gets on the score-sheet tonight, but keep an eye out for his productive play.

L.A. needs to beat the worst team in the West to show their playoff push is legitimate.

On October 14th the Kings dismantled the Oilers 6-1.  On December 30th, Edmonton got some satisfaction winning 3-2 in a shootout.  The two teams will meet two more times after tonight.  L.A. needs to win to set the precedent and send a message.

The belief is, the Kings could get into the playoffs if they win at least 13 of their last 20 games.  L.A. has 70 points in the standings now, they need to get to 96 to make sure their season continues into late April.

That means there’s very little room for error.  Winning starts tonight.

Go Kings Go!

Next: L.A. Kings: February Analysis

Dec 30, 2014; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Los Angeles Kings forward Dwight King (74) looks for a rebound in front of Edmonton Oilers goaltender Ben Scrivens (30) during the third period at Rexall Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports