Game 35 Preview: Edmonton at Los Angeles

Los Angeles Kings (22-8-4) vs Edmonton Oilers (11-21-3)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013, 7:30 p.m. PT
STAPLES Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #2 Mike Hasenfratz, #4 Wes McCauley
Linesmen: #86 Brad Lazarowich, #79 Kiel Murchison
FOX Sports West, KTLK 1150 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Martin Jones
2013-14 Season: 5 GP (5 GS) / 5-0-0 record / 0.99 GAA / .967 Sv% / 2 SHO
Career vs Edmonton: First appearance
Last Game vs Edmonton: First appearance
2013-14, Home: 1 (1) / 1-0-0 / 0.00 / 1.000 / 1

Edmonton Projected Starting Goaltender – Ilya Bryzgalov
2013-14 Season: 5 GP (4 GS) / 1-2-0 record / 2.35 GAA / .932 Sv% / 1 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 25 (25) / 14-6-4 / 2.32 / .917 / 2
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 10/15/11 / 61 MP / 23-26 shots / 2-3 OTL
2013-14, Away: 4 (4) / 1-2-0 / 2.35 / .932 / 1

2013-14 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (11-18=29)
Goals: Anze Kopitar (11-18=29), Justin Williams (11-11=22)
Assists: Mike Richards (6-21=27)
Plus/Minus: Anze Kopitar (+14; 11-18=29)
Penalty Minutes: Daniel Carcillo (57; 1-1=2)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (25:49; 6-11=17)

2013-14 Edmonton Leaders
Total Points: Jordan Eberle (11-18=29)
Goals: David Perron (14-13=27)
Assists: Jordan Eberle (11-18=29)
Plus/Minus: Luke Gadzic (+1; 1-1=2)
Penalty Minutes: Luke Gadzic (69; 1-1=2)
Time On Ice: Justin Schultz (21:46; 3-9=12)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – 14 / 2.62; EDM – 16 / 2.60
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 1 / 1.94; EDM – 29 / 3.40
Power Play: LAK – 20 / 16.4%; EDM – 13 / 18.1%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 5 / 85.8%; EDM – 17 / 81.7%
Shots/Game: LAK – 11 / 30.6; EDM – t-22 / 28.4
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 6 / 27.4; EDM – 22 / 30.9
Faceoffs: LAK – 1 / 54.5%; EDM – 21 / 48.8%
Save Percentage: LAK – t-2 / .929; EDM – 29 / .890

Los Angeles Projected Lines

Dwight King – Anze Kopitar – Jeff Carter
Dustin Brown – Jarret Stoll – Justin Williams
Trevor Lewis – Mike Richards – Matt Frattin
Kyle Clifford – Linden Vey – Jordan Nolan

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Robyn Regehr – Slava Voynov
Alec Martinez – Matt Greene

Martin Jones
Ben Scrivens

Level of confidence in projected lines: B-. The team didn’t take line rushes this morning, so the above projections are based on the lines yesterday at practice. Colin Fraser, who is still on injured reserve, Daniel Carcillo and Ben Scrivens remained on the ice the longest for extra work. Tyler Toffoli could play in Jordan Nolan’s spot.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 69-79-38 in the all-time series with Edmonton, which includes a home record of 36-36-21. The Kings are 12-1-4 in their last 17 meetings with the Oilers, dating back to April 7, 2009. After tonight, the teams will meet in Edmonton on March 9 and April 10. The Oilers are the only team in the Pacific Division that the Kings play four times; the Kings play all other Pacific Division teams five times. … The Kings are 13-2-4 in their last 19 games. … The Kings have been outshot in four consecutive games for the first time this season. … The Kings have scored three power plays in their last 43 opportunities. They recorded a power play goal in consecutive games at Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. … The Kings have killed off 65 of the last 71 penalties, dating back to November 7, and 58 of the last 63 penalties, dating back to November 14. … The Kings have outscored their opponents 23-10 over the last seven games. … The Kings are 18-3-2 when they score more than one goal in a game. … Dustin Brown has goals in five of 34 games this season after scoring goals in 14 of 48 games last season. He has two goals and no assists in the last 11 games. He is one point shy of 400 career points (187-212=399). … Ben Scrivens and Martin Jones have combined to post an 11-2-3 record with a 1.42 goals against average (973:49 TOI / 23 GA) and a .952 save percentage (453 saves / 476 SA) in the 16 games following the 3-2 shootout loss to Buffalo on November 12 in which Jonathan Quick was injured. … Jones is the first goalie in NHL history to allow an average of less than on goal per game while winning the first five appearances of his career. … Anze Kopitar has 24 points (11-13=24) in the last 26 games. … Jeff Carter has five points (2-3=5) in the last three games.

Edmonton Projected Lines

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Nail Yakupov – Sam Gagner – David Perron
Ryan Smyth – Boyd Gordon – Ales Hemsky
Ryan Jones – Mark Arcobello – Luke Gazdic

Philip Larsen – Justin Schultz
Nick Schultz – Anton Belov
Jeff Petry – Andrew Ference

Ilya Bryzgalov
Devan Dubnyk

Notes and milestones: Lines based on reports from EdmontonOilers.com and NHL.com … Taylor Hall will play in his 200th career NHL game tonight. … With 123 power play goals as an Oiler, Ryan Smyth ranks third place behind Wayne Gretzky (125) and Glenn Anderson (126). … The Oilers have lost 165 man games on injury. In last year’s 48-game season, they missed 114 man games to injury. … The Oilers have been in three shootouts this season, tied with Colorado and Nashville for the fewest shootouts in the Western Conference. Los Angeles defeated Edmonton 2-1 in a shootout on October 27. … The Oilers have allowed a league-high 120 goals.