TALE OF THE TAPE:
Game: Edmonton Oilers (30-40-7, 67 pts. 5-5 in their last 10) at LA Kings (44-25-5, 93 pts. 6-3-1 in their last 10)
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Time: 8:00 PM MT
Where to find it: TV: CBC – Radio: 630 CHED
Edmonton Oilers Preview:
After beating the San Jose Sharks in a huge 6-3 victory on Thursday night, the Oilers secured their first 30 win season since the 2011 – 2012 season when Tom Renney was behind the bench.
That season, the Oilers won 32 games, and finished the season with 74 points. Now with only five games to go before the season is finished, the Oilers sit with 67 points.
Tonight, the team looks to take on a Los Angeles team that has been been leading the Western Conference nearly all year. Laurent Brossoit gets the start tonight, and as it would be nice if he would be able to get some help from the offense:
#Oilers have only scored 1.8 goals/game in Brossoit’s first five NHL starts. Some run support will help if he hopes to earn first NHL win.
— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) March 26, 2016
In his five NHL starts, he has given up 15 goals, while the Oilers have only scored nine in front of him. This is not a knock against Brossoit by any means, but it shows the need for the team to play a tight hockey game in front of him.
In order for the Oilers to come out of Los Angeles with two points, the team needs to play a tight hockey game. The Kings are simply the best in the west, and it has shown as they have beaten the Oilers in all four meetings this season. In the previous four games this season LA has outscored Edmonton 14 to eight.
In the past month since the last time the two teams met on Feb. 25, the Oilers have certainly become a different team after dealing Anders Nilsson, Justin Schultz and Teddy Purcell while acquiring Patrick “Big Rig” Maroon.
Maroon has come into the Oilers lineup and been a dynamic force on the ice. He plays the exact style of game that complements the likes of Connor McDavid and Jordan Eberle whom he has been playing with consistently as of late.
His three-assist performance against the Sharks Thursday night just shows his ability to play in a top-six role. He has got to be elated.
When the Oilers came into this three game California road trip, I thought that if the team were to go .500 and play tight in the games I would consider that successful.
Quotes from oilers.nhl.com.
Predictions for tonight:
- Oilers win 3-2 in OT.
- Connor McDavid scores the game-winning goal.
- The Oilers come out and play a very physical game, and there are two fights in the game.
Kings Preview:
Forward Vincent Lecavalier practiced Friday after he missed a 4-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday with an undisclosed injury. There was no update provided on forward Kris Versteeg (foot), who has missed the past three games. The Kings have lost three straight since they clinched a Stanley Cup Playoff berth last Saturday. Los Angeles leads the Pacific Division by three points over the Anaheim Ducks, who have a game in hand. “These are games that we could have separated ourselves a little bit,” forward Jeff Carter told the Kings website. “We’ve got to get going here, we’re running out of games, you can’t get to the playoffs and then flip the switch, so we’ve got a lot of work to do here in the next couple weeks.”
— NHL.com
Line Combos and Starting Goalies:
Oilers (Laurent Brossoit):
Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Nail Yakupov
Patrick Maroon – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle
Lauri Korpikoski – Mark Letestu – Zack Kassian
Adam Cracknell – Matt Hendricks – Iiro Pakairnen
Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Jordan Oesterle – Griffin Reinhart
Darnell Nurse – Adam Clendening
EDM Injuries: Oscar Klefbom (leg infection), Andrew Ference (hip), Eric Gryba (knee), Benoit Pouliot (shoulder), Brandon Davidson (knee), Adam Pardy (hand), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (concussion).
LA Kings (Jonathan Quick):
Tanner Pearson – Anze Kopitar – Dustin Brown
Milan Lucic – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Dwight King – Nic Dowd – Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford – Nick Shore – Andy Andreoff
Brayden McNabb – Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin – Alec Martinez
Rob Scuderi – Luke Schenn
Any ideas on how to improve my game previews? Send me an email at zjlaing@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter.
