LA Kings at Edmonton Oilers Preview: Key Points, Projected Lines, and More

The final week of the regular season is here as the Kings wrap up the season series with an important matchup against the Edmonton Oilers.

Look Back at the Last Meeting:

LA won the last meeting in shutout fashion, blanking the Oilers 3-0. Kevin Fiala, Andrei Kuzmenko, and Trevor Lewis each scored for LA in the win. Darcy Kuemper stopped all 27 shots he faced.

Key Points Against the Edmonton Oilers:

1. Home Ice Clinching

With a win tonight of any fashion, the Kings can guarantee the first two games of the opening round to be played at Crypto.com Arena.

This has not occurred across these previous matchups. For each of the three previous series, the teams have gone to LA evened up 1-1. Edmonton has won game three twice and LA once in 2023. Clinching is one thing, but the Kings need to be better on home ice in the playoffs. LA lost both at home last season and two of three in 2023 and 2022. Step one is clinching it, step two is upping the level of play. Step one can be achieved tonight.

A lot to play for tonight in Edmonton.

2. Most For, Least Against

Since the NHL Trade Deadline, no team has scored more goals than the LA Kings, and no team has allowed fewer goals than the LA Kings.

Sounds pretty good to me. To dive deeper into it, the Kings have averaged 3.63 goals per game across that span and an insane 1.79 goals per game across that streak. On the offensive side, the powerplay has been a major factor in the uptick in goals. Since the deadline day, the Kings are 14 for 47 on the man advantage, which is 29%. On the other side, all eye turns toward Darcy Kuemper, who carried a streak of 15 straight starts allowing two goals or fewer up until Saturday.

They always say it's about getting hot at the right time, and the Kings are on fire as they head towards the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Los Angeles Kings Lineup Notes:

Drew Doughty has made the trip with the team to Edmonton, so it seems like there is a good chance he could return tonight. If he does play, expect Kyle Burroughs to slide out of the lineup.

No word on a starting goaltender for LA.

Here is how LA lined up against the Avalanche with the return of Alex Turcotte.

Look Across the Ice at the Edmonton Oilers:

The Oilers are coming off a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets last night, their third straight victory.

Here is how they lined up in that one:

Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid lead the way offensively with 106 and 99 points, respectively. On the backend, Evan Bouchard sits with 67 points.

Calvin Pickard will get the start tonight for Edmonton. Pickard is 22-9-1 on the season with a .902 save percentage and a 2.63 goals-against average. He suffered the loss in the previous matchup between these two teams.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jake Walman, Zach Hyman, Trent Frederic, Mattias Ekholm, and Leon Draisaitl were all out of the Oilers lineup last night. Frederic and Ekholm are out again tonight, while Draisaitl is questionable. No word on the others.

How to Tune In:

Tonight's puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. PST and 10:00 p.m. EST and is available to watch on FanDuel Sports Network West. A pre-game show begins 30 minutes prior. An audio-only feed is available on the ESPN LA app. Go Kings Go!