Kings at Oilers
Anze Kopitar wasn't shy about taking his show on the road in his last outing, and the Los Angeles Kings have made themselves at home in the opposition's arena for quite some time. Kopitar looks to ride the momentum of his first four-goal performance as the Kings bid to conclude a four-game road trip with a flourish on Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers.
"I'm just trying to help us win, I'm not doing anything else. ... Our goal is to make the playoffs. That's all it comes down to," said Kopitar, whose sterling performance in Thursday's 7-1 rout of Colorado improved the Kings 2-0-1 on their road trip and 6-0-2 in their last eight away from Staples Center. The 30-year-old Slovene's 33 goals are one shy of his career high set in 2009-10, while his assist (53) and point (86) totals are personal bests after collecting 14 and 22, respectively, over his last 14 contests. While the Kings are tied with Anaheim for third place in the Pacific, the Oilers have been eliminated from postseason contention despite a strong 6-2-1 stretch in their last nine outings. Reigning Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid collected two goals and set up two others in Thursday's 6-2 romp at Ottawa, boosting his point total to 41 (21 goals, 20 assists) in his past 26 games and 94 overall to reside one shy of Nikita Kucherov for the scoring lead.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), CBC, Sportsnet, Sportsnet1 (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE KINGS (41-27-7): Dustin Brown has been on a scoring binge with seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past five games overall, and his performance this season against Edmonton is impressive in its own right. The 33-year-old has three goals and an assist versus the Oilers, highlighted by a two-goal effort in a 5-0 rout on Jan. 2 in which Jonathan Quick turned aside all 32 shots he faced to add yet another shutout to his resume. Quick has posted a .932 save percentage in his last 15 starts after brushing aside 29 shots against the Avalanche.
ABOUT THE OILERS (33-36-5): Ty Rattie admitted he has a hard time accepting what he's seeing as he plays on a line with former top overall picks McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. "I pinch myself. ... I'm lucky enough to play with two good players and lucky enough to contribute (Thursday)," the 25-year-old Rattie said after the trio recorded nine points and a collective plus-12 rating against the Senators. Rattie has notched five points (three goals, two assists) in the past four contests while Nugent-Hopkins has 11 (five goals, six assists) in 10 games since returning from injury.
OVERTIME
1. Edmonton LW Drake Caggiula scored twice on Thursday to double his goal total in the past five games.
2. Los Angeles' top-ranked penalty kill has thwarted 23 of its last 24 short-handed opportunities.
3. Oilers LW Pontus Aberg has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past three games while D Darnell Nurse has five assists in his past four.