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

The Los Angeles Kings are in Edmonton tonight for game three of five of the road trip as they look to take a 2-0 lead on the season series.

Look Back at the Last Meeting

The Kings picked up a 4-3 OT win in December—the last time these two teams met—in one of the most fun games of the year. Quinton Byfield and Warren Foegele led the way with three points each, with QB55 grabbing the eventual overtime winner. Darcy Kuemper was great for LA after a rough first goal, stopping 24 of 27.

Key points against the Edmonton Oilers

1. Find the Offense

Despite being winners of five of their last six, the Kings offense has taken a dip over the last four games, scoring more than two goals just once in that span. The main killer for the Kings offense across this stretch has been a lack of scoring from the middle six.

Since the Devils game, all six members of the Kings middle six are without a point. Even more, for some like Phillip Danault, Alex Laferriere, and Trevor Moore's goalless streaks span much longer. With this, you have to wonder if there are some lineup changes in place for tonight's game.

When looking back at the last matchup, the Jeannot, Byfield, and Foegele line did all the heavy lifting offensively, yet they have been broken up since the return of Trevor Moore. With the Danault-led "third line", they have struggled to find the scoresheet as well, making the idea of mixing up that line a good option as well.

In Saturday's third period against Calgary, we saw Jim Hiller mix up his forward lines trying to find some offense, and we will see if he sticks with any of those new line combos tonight in Edmonton.

2. Oil Slowing Down at Home

Last year, the Oilers were nearly unbeatable on home ice, skating to a record of 28-9-4, including being 27-5-3 under Kris Knoblach. The Oilers had a goal differential of +63, while their powerplay clicked at a crazy number of 32.8%. This season, however, things have not been as smooth sailing for the Oilers.

The Oilers have already matched last season's home losses with eight, while their powerplay has dropped to just 20.4%. Something that has also hurt them is their drop in save percentage. Last year, it sat very solid .909%, while this year it is down to .892%.

Pair these goaltending and defensive struggles with the point above, and tonight could be primed for the offense breakout the Kings need.

3. Return of the Kuemperor

When Darcy Kuemper starts, good things happen. Darcy Kuemper is 8-0-2 over his last ten starts, becoming just the fourth goaltender in franchise history with points in ten consecutive appearances, per KingsPR. This season, Kuemper has collected points in 17 of his 19 starts, for 29 of a possible 38 points.

Weirdly enough, Kuemper has appeared in just four games against the Pacific Division this season, skating to a record of 2-2-0 with a save percentage of .902 and a goals against average of 2.76.

With Edmonton's play on home ice down this year and Kuemper being practically unbeatable as of late, let's hope his record against the Pacific Division jumps above .500.

LA Kings Lineup Notes

Joel Edmundson missed his second straight game on Saturday. No update on him this morning; we will see closer to puck drop. Darcy Kuemper is projected to start.

Look across the ice at the Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers enter tonight coming off a win in Chicago, a game where they erased a 3-1 deficit. Here is how they lined up in that one:

Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid.

We all know what they can do and what they are capable of, so no real reason to indepth on them.

What has given Edmonton their success in close games has been the play of guys like Podkolzin, Janmark, and Brown. Their big offseason additions of Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson have not panned out, although tough due to injury with Arvidsson, so they have had to rely on these depth players to take steps forward and fill some bigger roles than maybe was anticipated.

Stuart Skinner is projected to get the start tonight for the Oilers. Skinner is 16-9-3 with a .898 save percentage and a 2.77 goals against average. He stopped 25 of 29 in the previous meeting.

How to Tune In

Tonight's puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. PST and 9:30 p.m. EST and is available to watch on FanDuel Sports Network West. The pregame show will begin 30 minutes prior. An audio-only feed is available on the ESPN LA App. Go Kings Go!