In the biggest game for the LA Kings since 2018, the Edmonton Oilers come to Los Angeles just one point ahead of LA for second place in the Pacific Division. With a regulation win, the Kings can leapfrog the Oilers. A regulation loss and the Kings fall to three points behind Edmonton. One point in overtime, and the Kings will trail by two points.
Here’s how the two teams stack up:
Tale of the Tape
Top scorers:
LAK: Anze Kopitar – 18 goals, 43 assists, 61 points
EDM: Connor McDavid – 41 goals, 65 assists, 106 points
Betting Odds
The Kings come into this one as slight underdogs, per our sponsors at DraftKings.
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- Kings Odds: +110
- Oilers Odds: -130
- Over/Under: 6.0
- Time: 7:30 pm PT
- Broadcast Info: SN1, BSW, ESPN+
Projected Lineups
Here’s how the Kings aligned in Wednesday’s practice, per LA Kings Insider.
Iafallo – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Grundstrom – Byfield – Vilardi
Lemieux – Kupari – Kaliyev
Brown – Andersson – Athanasiou (red)
Todd McLellan looks to be featuring a different bottom-six group, with Brendan Lemieux wearing a white jersey on Wednesday. Let’s see if he returns to the lineup on Thursday. The Kings have sorely missed his presence.
And it appears that both Dustin Brown and Lias Andersson, who were in purple jerseys, are the extra skaters and therefore healthy scratches.
“We could gain and lose some, the way it’s going,” McLellan said when asked about Thursday’s lineup. “We’ll probably have to make one decision, some decisions will be made for us as far as bumps and bruises.”
With Cal Petersen getting three consecutive starts, look for Jonathan Quick to get the nod on Thursday. He’s played in some big games before, as you might already know.
Here’s how the Oilers lined up against the Sharks on Tuesday:
Oilers at SJ:
— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) April 6, 2022
Kane-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Hyman-RNH-Yamamoto
Brassard-Shore-Kassian
Foegele-McLeod-Ryan
Nurse-Ceci
Keith-Bouchard
Kulak-Barrie
Russell
Smith
Note, no Leon Draisaitl in that one, but it didn’t matter. Edmonton earned the full two points in overtime. Let’s see if he returns against the Kings.
LA has to find a way to get at least one point out of this. Ten games remaining in the regular season; it’s time to clinch a playoff berth.