GAME PREVIEW: Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings

Edmonton Oilers (17-10-3) 2nd, Pacific vs

Los Angeles Kings (11-16-2) 8th, Atlantic

06 December 2019

Rogers Arena

700 PM MST

TV: Sportsnet West

Radio: 630 CHED

SB Nation Opponent: Jewels From The Crown

NOT IN FINE FASHION

The Oilers had a blast in the first period of Wednesday’s game against the Senators. Jujhar Khaira scored his sixth goal of the year while on the power play. Craig Anderson got his first start in over a week for the Senators. Good times. The second period came, and the Senators blew the doors off. Two goals in eleven seconds early on, then Tyler Ennis would make it 3-1 midway through the period. Mikko Koskinen was chased for Mike Smith, and the Oilers were out of it by then. Oscar Klefbom would make it 3-2 late in the second, but Anthony Duclair would help seal the deal for the Senators in the third. A tired Ottawa club would snap their five game losing streak with a big 5-2 win over the Oilers.

The Oilers are hosting the Kings tonight. Can they find a way to win and get back on top of the Pacific Division?

Let’s go to the tape.

THE OILERS ARE SAYING

“We need to find a way to win these games. You don’t want to go into March and look back at these games. We have to learn from it.”

Source

That’s Oilers defenceman Adam Larsson on his club’s 5-2 loss to the Senators on Wednesday night.

Larsson is underselling it here, Wednesday’s game might have been the worst one I’ve seen this season. The club got outworked by a Senators team with a five game losing streak who just got handled by Vancouver the night prior. Can the Oilers make it work tonight against LA?

THE KINGS ARE SAYING

“Once it got to [2-0], I thought we said, ‘You know what, let’s go play. We got nothing to lose.’ And we became a better team.”

Source

That’s Kings’ head coach Todd McLellan on his club’s 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.

The Kings have the worst goal differential in the Western Conference (-23).

HAVE SOME OF THIS

• 2ND PACIFIC: A terrible loss on Wednesday coupled with a Coyotes win last night now has Arizona atop the Pacific. Think that’ll light a fire under the club tonight?
• GOING THE WRONG WAY: After a hot start, the club is trending the wrong way. A 5-0-0 start has ebbed into 12-10-3 since then. The fun part? They’ve kept that 3 goals per game thing going pretty solid. That’s not bad. The not so fun part? They’re allowing on average 1.2 more goals a game over the last ten compared to the first ten. Both Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen were playing lights out to start the season. Koskinen is still the clear number one from this vantage point. The club is going to have to tighten up (or score some more goals) to keep this ship afloat.
• BRING ME NUGE!: The club needs Ryan Nugent-Hopkins back more than ever. 93 was out skating recently, but the Oilers need to get him back in the lineup sooner than later. Nugent-Hopkins has been on IR since November 29th, it feels like months.
• KINGS’ RANSOM: The Oilers need to beat the Kings. LA is the fourth worst in scoring (2.52 G/G), they’re sixth worst in goals against per game (3.31 GA/G). They’re second worst in the league on the power play, and they’re fourth worst on the PK. This is a divisional matchup. Win the game.
• NET GAINS: Mikko Koskinen didn’t have a great night against the Senators, the club should absolutely start him tonight regardless (10-3-1, .917 SV% / 2.62 GAA / 1 SO). The Kings are likely to go with Jonathan Quick (7-11-1, .883 SV% / 3.29 GAA).
• SICK BAY: For the Oilers, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is out (hand). Zack Kassian (back) is day-to-day, while Matt Benning (head) will be out. The Kings are without defenceman Alec Martinez (wrist).