We must look after one another to make sure that no one among us is tempted to reject the grace of God. We need to pay careful attention not to become overly bitter, otherwise the wins will come but we will still be cheering for failure. Let us be certain not to allow another like Pocklington into our midst who traded God's gracious gifts for nothing but money.
Edmonton Oilers (32-38-9) @ Los Angeles Kings (39-27-13)
Staples Center, 8:30 p.m. MDT
Television: Sportsnet West
More analysis after the jump...
Home Team Scouting Report:
The Oilers and Kings are meeting for the second time in less than a week, and once again, the Kings desperately need the points while the Oilers... don't. In fact, if the Oilers pick up less than two points tonight, they can finish no higher than 28th in the league standings, clinching a position in the lottery for the third consecutive season. Of course, the Kings will be facing a different team of Oilers tonight: instead of Nikolai Khabibulin, they'll get Devan Dubnyk and instead of Jeff Petry, Ladislav Smid, and Corey Potter, they'll be facing Colten Teubert, Cam Barker, and Bryan Rodney. The Oilers will also be playing the second of back-to-back games, and will be playing on the road. It should be a pretty easy two points for Los Angeles.
Expected Lineups:
Edmonton Oilers (32-38-9):
Hartikainen - Nugent-Hopkins - Eberle
Gagner - Belanger - Omark
Smyth - Horcoff - Jones
Eager - VandeVelde - Petrell
Whitney - Schultz
Sutton - Teubert
Barker - Rodney
Dubnyk
Los Angeles Kings (39-27-13):
Richardson - Kopitar - Brown
King - Richards - Williams
Penner - Stoll - Lewis
Nolan - Fraser - Clifford
Scuderi - Doughty
Mitchell - Voynov
Martinez - Greene
Quick
By the Numbers:
- The Oilers are apparently not the learning type. From the website: "With exactly 5:00 remaining in the opening period at the Honda Center, the 28-year-old was drilled by Bobby Ryan along the side boards -- a head shot, possibly, but Potter completed the game looking no worse for wear. Regardless, he'll sit out tonight with a suspected concussion." It's tough to understand what the Oilers had to gain by leaving Potter in if they thought a concussion was a real possibility.
- Potter's concussion means that Bryan Rodney will play tonight. Rodney was traded to Edmonton earlier this year in exchange for center Ryan O'Marra. In 21 games with Oklahoma City, Rodney was nine points and a +8 rating.
- Jonathan Quick has a 1.92 GAA so far this season. If that holds up, it will be the best GAA for a goalie with at least sixty starts since Dominik Hasek's 1.87 in 1998-99. That is, of course, assuming he's able to beat out Henrik Lundqvist who also has a 1.92 GAA this season.
- With such good goaltending, you wonder why the Kings aren't higher in the standings. Quite simply, the team can't score. Right now, the Kings are 29th in the NHL with just 2.27 goals per game, which only bests the Minnesota Wild who sit last with 2.06.
- That 2.06 figure is the lowest of any team since the 2001-02 Blue Jackets who scored just 2.00 goals per game.