The Edmonton Oilers play the back half of two in Cali tonight as they visit the Los Angeles Kings for the second meeting of the season between the new division rivals. Edmonton has struggled recently, dropping three in a row to Boston, Vancouver and Anaheim, while the Kings are returning from a highly successful road trip through eastern Canada.
The Oilers will be without defender Corey Potter, who was suspended two games yesterday for his it on Ducks forward Nick Bonino on Sunday night. As a result, defender Anton Belov is expected to take his spot in the lineup. Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov was good in his return from the IR and is expected to start again for the Oilers.
Meanwhile, the Kings are without star goalie Jonathan Quick, who is battling an injury he suffered earlier this season. AHL starter Martin Jones has won his first five career NHL starts and is expected to get the nod for the Kings. LA has just one regulation loss to Edmonton in the last twenty meetings between the sides, which came in November of 2011 at Staples Center.
Taylor Hall will play his 200th NHL game tonight in the building he was drafted in back in 2010.
Last Games:
Edmonton: The Oilers last took to the ice on Sunday night in Anaheim against the Ducks. The Oilers played a good first period and were rewarded with an early lead. RNH tipped home a Taylor Hall shot to put the Oil up 1-0 6:18 in. A defensive lapse would cost Edmonton however, as Nick Bonino was left wide open and tied the game at 11:22.
In the second, the Ducks took control after a Corey Potter hit that resulted in a five minute Anaheim power-play. The Ducks didn’t score, but they took the game over and broke through for the lead at 15:24 as Teemu Selanne slipped past the defense and beat Bryz.
In the third, Sam Gagner would back-hand one past Jonas Hiller at 10:26 to tie things up. The Ducks regained the lead however off another Edmonton defensive mistake, leaving Dustin Penner wide-open in the slot. The Penner goal with less than four minutes left would be the difference in a 3-2 Ducks win.
Los Angeles: The Kings closed out a road trip on Sunday night in Chicago in a rematch of the 2013 Western Conference Finals. The Hawks got going early, scoring a short-handed goal compliments Marian Hossa just over five minutes in. At 9:59, the Hawks would go up two thanks to Kris Versteeg firing home a shot. Lastly, Patrick Sharp would blast home a PPG in the final minute to put Chicago up 3-0.
The second period went scoreless, with Kings goalie Ben Scrivens stopping all 15 Hawks shots. In the third, the Kings would play much better and even score, as Alex Martinez would fire home a shot in the final five minutes. Antti Raanta would stop 21 shots in the win, a 3-1 decision for the Hawks.
Last Meeting:
The Oilers and Kings last met on October 27th in LA in what was a close game on the scoreboard, but a lopsided one on the ice. The two sides would skate to a scoreless tie after one, largely thanks to Richard Bachman stopping ten Kings shots.
In the second, Nail Yakupov would beat Jon Quick with a quick wrist shot on the power-play to give the Oilers the first lead of the game. Mike Richards would tie things up 12 minutes later on a second chance in front of the Edmonton net which he was able to sneak past Bachman.
In the third, Bachman would put on a show, making some sensational saves and stopping a total of 23 Kings shots to send the game to OT, a stolen point for the Oilers.
In OT, LA got all three shots on net, which were all denied by Bachman, who was making his first start as an Oiler.
The two sides would go to a shoot-out, Edmonton would open the scoring with a Jordan Eberle goal in round one, but wouldn’t beat Quick again. Mike Richards and Anze Kopitar would score to give the Kings the 2-1 shoot-out decision and 2-1 win.
Players To Watch:
Edmonton: Oilers forward Ryan Smyth returns to the lineup tonight and is expected to play on a shut-down line with Boyd Gordon. Smyth looks much better this season than he did last year, when it looked like the tank was simply empty. Smyth has had some decent success against the Kings his entire career, and will probably shadow the Kopitar line tonight. Keep an eye on the vet.
Los Angeles: Kings goalie Martin Jones has taken the league by storm this season. He has won his first five NHL starts and has done it with a GAA below one. He is the first goalie in NHL history to do such a thing, and looks ready for a full time NHL roster spot. The Oilers will get to see this rookie in person tonight, and I suggest keeping an eye on him as he is playing historically good.
The Lines:
Edmonton Oilers Lines:
Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
David Perron – Sam Gagner – Nail Yakupov
Ryan Smyth – Boyd Gordon – Ales Hemsky
Luke Gazdic – Mark Arcobello – Ryan Jones
Anton Belov – Jeff Petry
Nick Schultz – Justin Schultz
Andrew Ference – Philip Larsen
Ilya Bryzgalov
Los Angeles Kings Lines:
Dwight King – Anze Kopitar – Jeff Carter
Dustin Brown – Jarrett Stoll – Justin Williams
Kyle Clifford – Mike Richards – Tyler Toffoli
Daniel Carcillo – Trevor Lewis – Jordan Nolan
Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Robyn Regehr – Slava Voynov
Alex Martinez – Matt Greene
Martin Jones
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