Scouting the Oilers

This is the third of four meetings this season between the Kings and the Edmonton Oilers. It follows the Oilers’ 3-0 win in Los Angeles on Nov. 3 and the Oilers’ 2-1 overtime win in Edmonton on Jan. 15. Special teams have been a major shortcoming for the Kings against the Oilers this season. In the two previous meetings, the Kings were 0-for-5 on the power play and 5-for-7 on the penalty kill. The Oilers have the league’s second-best power-play percentage this season. Nikolai Khabibulin, who had a 19-save shutout of the Kings in November, is expected to get the start tonight. Magnus Paajarvi was announced as a call-up for Edmonton, but this afternoon the league declared that Paajarvi wouldn’t be allowed to play, per call-up rules. Taylor Hall (shoulder) is out for the rest of the season. The Oilers, long since out of the Western Conference playoff race, haven’t stopped playing, as they have a 5-1-2 record in their last eight games. For the latest on the Oilers, check out the coverage from the Edmonton Journal and the Edmonton Sun, followed by the possible lineups for the Kings and the Oilers…

Edmonton Journal’s Oilers coverage

Edmonton Sun’s Oilers coverage

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KINGS LINEUP
Brad Richardson-Anze Kopitar-Dustin Brown
Dwight King-Mike Richards-Justin Williams
Dustin Penner-Jarret Stoll-Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford-Colin Fraser-Jordan Nolan

Rob Scuderi-Drew Doughty
Willie Mitchell-Slava Voynov
Alec Martinez-Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Jonathan Bernier

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OILERS LINEUP
Ryan Smyth-Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Jordan Eberle
Teemu Hartikainen-Sam Gagner-Ales Hemsky
Linus Omark-Shawn Horcoff-Ryan Jones
Darcy Hordichuk-Chris VandeVelde-Ben Eager

Ladislav Smid-Jeff Petry
Ryan Whitney-Nick Schultz
Andy Sutton-Corey Potter

Nikolai Khabibulin
Devan Dubnyk