Oilers at Kings
The Los Angeles Kings saw their three-game winning streak end with an offensive whimper, as they mustered just 18 shots en route to being shut out to begin a three-game homestand. The Kings look to get it in gear in Saturday's tilt versus the Edmonton Oilers, against whom they had no issue scoring in their first two encounters.
Adrian Kempe scored a goal in both Los Angeles' 5-0 win over Edmonton on Jan. 2 and 5-2 victory on Feb. 7, but saw his stretch of four assists in four games halted in a 2-0 setback versus Dallas on Thursday. "Not only did we spend a little too much time in our zone, we couldn't generate enough offensively. Details in games like that matter," Kings coach John Stevens said after his team fell to the Stars. The Oilers began a six-game losing skid with their setback versus Los Angeles earlier this month, but rebounded to defeat Colorado twice in a five-day stretch. Reigning Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid and fellow forward Leon Draisaitl each scored and set up a goal in a 3-2 overtime win against the Avalanche on Thursday, giving the former 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) in his last 17 games while the latter has 21 (seven goals, 14 assists) in that same run.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, Sportsnet 360, CITY (Edmonton), FS West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE OILERS (25-31-4): A trendy pick to improve upon last season's surge into the second round, Edmonton begins its three-game road trip through the Golden State likely looking at missing the playoffs for the 11th time in 12 seasons. Despite the struggles that have seen the Oilers rank 27th in goals-against (3.3 per game), 30th in power-play efficiency (14.3 percent) and 31st in penalty kill (72.4), general manager Peter Chiarelli dismissed the notion of making wholesale changes. "We're not going to blow it up," Chiarelli said Friday. "There are some areas that we have to tweak. I've always felt that the margins are small in this league, and if you're not within the margins you can be where we are. That's where we are."
ABOUT THE KINGS (33-23-5): Jeff Carter practiced on Friday for the second time since sustaining a lacerated ankle tendon against Montreal on Oct. 18, but refused to estimate when he might return to game action. "It's never easy," the 33-year-old Carter said. "This is the longest I've been out for any extended period of time. It was a new challenge for me. Nobody wants to sit out and be out of the lineup for 4 1/2 months ... sitting at home watching games on the couch." While Carter led the team with 32 goals and 66 points last season, captain Anze Kopitar (25 goals, 64 points) holds that distinction in 2017-18 and has one goal and three assists in two encounters with Edmonton.
OVERTIME
1. Los Angeles G Jonathan Quick stopped all 32 shots he faced versus Edmonton on Jan. 2 and has a .939 save percentage in his past seven games overall.
2. The Oilers are 0-for-13 on the power play in their last eight contests.
3. Kings D Drew Doughty is slated to play in his 750th career game on Saturday.