The Edmonton Oilers are back on the road to take on a division rival in Los Angeles, as they look to bounce back from an overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche. The Kings come into this game with six more points and two more games played than the Oilers. The expected goaltending matchup is Stuart Skinner for the Oil and Pheonix Copley for the Kings.
The Orange and Blue would love a win tonight to get their confidence back as they continue to rack up the points in the tight Pacific division. The key tonight, just like against the Islanders a few nights ago, is playing a sound defensive game. The Kings have a strong forward group that are lethal with the puck on their stick, but can be shut down with a little bit of pressure. Playing shut down defence and taking advantage of good opportunities will be a key to a victory tonight. Phoenix Copley has been red hot since his call up to the NHL with a 10-2-0 record, so taking advantage on the power play and lots of shots will be a huge factor to squeezing out a win.
The expected lines tonight for the Oilers are as follows, but are subject to change:
Kostin-McDavid-Yamamoto
RNH-Draisaitl-Hyman
Janmark-McLeod-Puljujarvi
Holloway-Ryan
Nurse-Ceci
Kulak-Barrie
Broberg/Niemelainen-Bouchard
Skinner
There have been no updates on any changes in the lineup from last game going into tonight’s matchup, so the lines above will likely stay the same. The only change that may happen is bringing in Warren Foegele and running 12 forwards with 6 D.
Dylan Holloway has been exceptional in his last few games, scoring his second goal of the season against the Islanders and playing with more confidence with the puck on his stick has had a positive impact on his line mates as well as himself.
Zach Hyman is having an incredible season, and the last game against the Colorado Avalanche was nothing different as he scored the only two goals for the team in their loss. He will be looking to continue his insane offensive season tonight.
Overall, I think the Oilers will be okay as long as they take lots of quality shots, and can hold their own in their own end. We saw how beneficial a good defensive game was against the Islanders. Even though they lost, the defensive play against the Avalanche was good too, but the team failed yet again to play a full 60 minutes. If the Oilers get up early, they can’t get complacent.