Oilers at Kings
The Los Angeles Kings sit in an unfamiliar place in the standings - first in the Pacific Division - as they try for their seventh straight home victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. Los Angeles, which won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014, has finished better than third once since 2000 and claimed one division title in franchise history - the Smythe in 1990-91 - as it tries to stay on top in what is shaping up to be a competitive Pacific this season.
The Kings have alternated losses and wins over their last six contests since a seven-game winning streak followed a three-game slide to begin the season. Los Angeles is 10-3-0 since Milan Lucic, who scored in Thursday's 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders for his second goal in the last three games, joined a line featuring Tyler Toffoli (team-best 10 goals) and Jeff Carter (team-high 16 points). "Jeff's a guy with a lot of speed and you can tell he is using it well," Lucic told reporters. "He is controlling the play and using myself and Toff (Tyler Toffoli) to support him." Edmonton is 1-3-0 since Connor McDavid - the No. 1 overall pick in June's draft - went down with a broken collarbone and is coming off a 4-1 loss in Arizona on Thursday after prevailing 4-3 in overtime in Anaheim one day earlier.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CBC, SNET (Edmonton), FSN West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE OILERS (6-11-0): Taylor Hall, the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft, continued his strong start by scoring Thursday and has team bests of seven goals and 11 assists. “He has his hands on the steering wheel and it’s important that your leaders accept that responsibility on a nightly basis,” coach Todd McLellan told reporters about Hall. Benoit Pouliot (illness) missed Thursday's game as a virus appears to have swept through Edmonton's locker room.
ABOUT THE KINGS (10-6-0): It appears Toffoli is intent on not only validating his 23-goal season of 2014-15, but becoming one of the league's top scorers. "I’m trying to find different ways to score goals,'' Toffoli, who is under consideration for a spot on Team Canada in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, told reporters. "You have to find a new way (every time), and that’s what I’m trying to do right now. Right now it’s working pretty well for me. ...” Jonathan Quick (7-6-0, 2.30 goals against average, .914 save percentage) is likely to return to the net after backup Jhonas Enroth improved to 3-0-0 on Thursday.
OVERTIME
1. Los Angeles has scored a power-play goal in five consecutive games.
2. Saturday's contest will mark the 700th in the career for Kings C Anze Kopitar, who has 223 goals and 394 assists - all with Los Angeles.
3. The Kings prevailed in the season's first encounter 3-2 on Oct. 25 in Edmonton on Tanner Pearson's power-play goal with 3:26 left.