GAME THREAD: Edmonton Oilers @ Los Angeles Kings

Edmonton Oilers (24-18-3), 5th, Pacific)

Los Angeles Kings (24-16-7), 3rd, Pacific)

15 February 2022

Crypto Dot Com Arena

830 PM MT

TV: Sportsnet One

Radio: 630 CHED

SB Nation Opponent: Jewels From The Crown

Stuart Skinner and the rest of the Edmonton Oilers picked up a 3-0 win over the San Jose Sharks last night. Like the Sharks before last night, the Kings haven’t played a game in two weeks. The Oilers look to turn back-to-back games into a couple of wins tonight.

THREE THINGS TO LOOK FOR

• Mike Smith will get the start for the Oilers in net. Smith looks for his fourth win of the season; his last outing was nearly perfect when he stopped 37 of 38 shots against the Islanders in a 3-1 win on Friday night.
• This is LA’s first game in two weeks. Like last night’s game against the Sharks, the Kings haven’t played in quite some time. Even though the Oilers are the club playing their second game in as many nights, there’s a good opportunity for Edmonton to possibly take advantage of a club that might not be fully ready when the puck drops.
• The Oilers are playing for their third win under interim coach Jay Woodcroft. We are still very early in Jay Woodcroft’s tenure as Oilers bench boss, but things are looking better already. You could suggest that the change of fortune is due to all the emotions of having a new coach, but the team is playing tighter defence already. The Oilers kept San Jose to just 20 shots in yesterday’s win, they’d love to do that again to the Kings tonight.

A regulation win tonight will put the Oilers back to third in the Pacific. Let’s go get ‘em.