Oilers at Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are making a run at the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference as they prepare to host the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday afternoon. The Kings are 4-1-1 in their last six games and trail Pacific Division rival San Jose by one point for fourth place. Los Angeles, which is coming off a 3-0 victory over Minnesota, is only one point ahead of the Wild and three clear of the eighth-place St. Louis Blues.
Edmonton had its five-game winning streak snapped with a 4-0 loss at Vancouver on Thursday in the opener of a four-game road trip. The Oilers had been on an offensive rampage prior to the shutout, piling up 25 goals during their five-game run. Taylor Hall had his six-game point streak halted, but he still has seven goals and 15 points in his last seven games. Edmonton is three points out of eighth place.
TV: 4 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Rogers Sportsnet West (Edmonton), FSN West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE OILERS (16-14-7): Devan Dubnyk, riding a four-game winning streak, is expected back in net. Edmonton's recent offensive splurge has made Dubnyk's life fairly easy, and he has yielded only three goals in his last three starts. The Oilers managed only 12 shots in the first two periods of Thursday's loss. "We just had trouble maintaining our work ethic and battle level that we had prior to this," forward Jordan Eberle told the Edmonton Journal. "We needed to score and we couldn't do it."
ABOUT THE KINGS (21-13-3): New acquisition Robyn Regehr, acquired from the Buffalo Sabres earlier in the week, made a quick impression on his teammates. The veteran defenseman made his debut in the win over the Wild and picked up an assist, blocked two shots and doled out a game-high six hits. "He's a hard-nosed defenseman, he's hard to play against, and he's not going to give an inch to anyone on the opposite team," said red-hot forward Justin Williams, who ran his goal-scoring streak to five games.
OVERTIME
1. G Jonathan Quick is expected to get the start for the Kings. He's 8-1-4 lifetime against Edmonton.
2. The Oilers are ranked third in the league on the power play at 23.1 percent.
3. Los Angeles is only 2-for-20 with the man advantage over the last eight games.