LA Kings at Edmonton Oilers projected lineups, odds, notes

The LA Kings are in Edmonton on Thursday night for a crucial Pacific Division matchup with the Oilers.

Projected Lineups

LA Kings (43-21-10)

Here’s how the Kings skated during Tuesday’s loss in Calgary:

Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –

Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Danault – Arvidsson
Moore – Lizotte – Iafallo
Grundstrom – Kupari – Kaliyev

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Edler – Durzi

Korpisalo
Copley

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) March 29, 2023

Edmonton Oilers (43-23-9)

The Oilers beat up on the Golden Knights in Vegas on Tuesday; here’s how they lined up:

Tonight has a look of 11 & 7. Here’s what Oilers look like in warmup:

RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Kane-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
Foegele-Bjugstad-Janmark
Kostin-Shore-Ryan

Nurse-Ceci
Ekholm-Bouchard
Kulak-Desharnais
Broberg

Skinner@LouDeBrusk joins me for the call on @Sportsnet at 8 MT. pic.twitter.com/6jE7fU632A

— Jack Michaels (@EdmontonJack) March 29, 2023

5-on-5

Here’s how the two teams match up at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick

The two teams are about as close as you can get in most of the 5-on-5 team metrics.

Special Teams

The league’s top two power plays meet on Thursday. Neither penalty kill has been very good so it’d be a benefit to both teams to play most of this game at 5-on-5.

Betting Odds

Let’s look at the odds, courtesy of Betstamp.

*Note: the odds below are for sports books offered in New York. Refer to available sports books specific to your state.

**Odds as of 11 am ET/8 am PT may have changed since the writing of this article.

The LA Kings are underdogs again in Alberta, as DraftKings has the visitors at +140. Edmonton is -156 at both FanDuel and BetRivers. The total on the game is seven across the board, with a couple of books offering the Over at Even Money while BetRivers has the Under at -109.

I have no issues with the Kings being underdogs in this one, they should be, but +140 does seem a little steep given how poor Edmonton’s goaltending has been. The Oilers have outperformed LA in most 5-on-5 possession metrics over the past 25 games, but Skinner has struggled (the team has a sub-.900 5-on-5 save percentage during that time). I wouldn’t have a problem taking the Kings at the +140.

News & Notes

• The LA Kings have rotated goaltenders since the arrival of Joonas Korpisalo. This will be the first test to that as this is, really, the first “big” game for the Kings in a while, and Pheonix Copley‘s most recent outing, he allowed six goals.
• Gabriel Vilardi remains day-to-day for the Kings as he deals with an injury.
• Stuart Skinner should get the start for Edmonton. While he is better than Jack Campell, Skinner has allowed at least three goals in each of his last four starts.
• The blue line continues to be a question for the Kings. Not necessarily the performance but the combinations. The recent pairing of Alex Edler and Sean Durzi did not go well, and it rarely ever has. We’ll see what Todd McLellan decides to do with that third pair seeing as Durzi has been an important power play contributor for the Kings.
• The Kings have allowed a power play goal in five straight games. The Oilers have one of the top power plays in NHL history and they went 3-for-3 in Vegas on Tuesday.
• The Pacific Division standings are tightening, with Vegas (98 points), LA (96), and Edmonton (95) still occupying the top three spots. The top of the division as well as home ice, is on the line tonight and the final stretch this season. Vegas is in San Jose on Thursday.
• Both Edmonton and LA have been blistering hot of late. The Kings just had a 12-game point streak snapped, while Edmonton is currently riding an eight-game point streak, and they have points in 10 of their last 11 games.
• The Oilers’ addition of Mattias Ekholm has also shined a light on young defenseman Evan Bouchard. He has been really good in the month of March, scoring nearly a point per game (13 points in 14 games).

(Main Photo Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports)