Game 81 Preview: Los Angeles at Edmonton

Los Angeles Kings (45-28-7) at Edmonton Oilers (28-43-9)
Thursday, April 10, 2014, 6:30 p.m. PT
Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB
Referees: #9 Dan O’Rourke, #22 Ghislain Hebert
Linesmen: #78 Brian Mach, #86 Brad Lazarowich
Fox Sports West, KEIB 1150 AM
Kings Weekly to follow tonight’s show

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Martin Jones
2013-14 Season: 18 GP (17 GS) / 11-6-0 record / 1.91 GAA / .932 Sv% / 3 SHO
Career vs Edmonton: 1 (1) / 1-0-0 / 0.00 / 1.000 / 1
Last Game vs Edmonton: 12/17/13 / 60 MP / 24-24 shots / 3-0 W
2013-14, Away: 11 (11) / 7-4-0 / 2.18 / .930 / 1

Edmonton Projected Starting Goaltender – Viktor Fasth
2013-14 Season: 11 GP (11 GS) / 5-4-2 record / 2.81 GAA / .897 Sv% / 0 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 3 (3) / 1-2-0 / 2.95 / .888 / 0
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 4/13/13 / 59 MP / 16-18 shots / 1-2 L
2013-14, Home: 4 (4) / 3-1-0 / 2.90 / .914 / 0

2013-14 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (26-40=66)
Goals: Jeff Carter (27-23=50)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (26-40=66)
Plus/Minus: Anze Kopitar (+30; 26-40=66)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (81; 3-5=8)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (25:42; 10-27=37)

2013-14 Edmonton Leaders
Total Points: Taylor Hall (27-50=77)
Goals: David Perron (28-29=57)
Assists: Taylor Hall (27-50=77)
Plus/Minus: Ryan Jones (+0; 0-5=5)
Penalty Minutes: Luke Gazdic (127; 2-2=4)
Time On Ice: Justin Schultz (23:26; 11-21=32)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – t-26 / 2.40; EDM – t-24 / 2.42
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 1 / 2.06; EDM – 30 / 3.28
Power Play: LAK – t-23 / 15.6%; EDM – 20 / 16.9%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 12 / 82.9%; EDM – 17 / 81.8%
Shots/Game: LAK – 7 / 31.5; EDM – 26 / 27.1
Shots Against/Game: LAK – t-2 / 26.4; EDM – t-25 / 32.6
Faceoffs: LAK – t-1 / 52.8%; EDM – 21 / 49.0%
Save Percentage: LAK – 2 / .922; EDM – 28 / .899

Los Angeles Projected Lines

Marian Gaborik – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams
Dwight King – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Tanner Pearson – Jarret Stoll – Dustin Brown
Kyle Clifford – Mike Richards – Trevor Lewis

Jake Muzzin – Slava Voynov
Willie Mitchell – Alec Martinez
Andrew Campbell – Matt Greene

Martin Jones
Jonathan Quick

Level of confidence in projected lines: B. The Kings did not hold a morning skate, so it is not possible to deduce lineups and pairings from line rushes and players who remain on the ice for extra work. Do not expect Drew Doughty or Robyn Regehr to return to the lineup. One potential change would see Jordan Nolan draw into the lineup, though it is not clear who he would replace. Expect Martin Jones to start tonight.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 71-79-38 all-time against Edmonton, a record that includes an away mark of 34-43-17. The Kings are 14-1-4 in their last 19 meetings with Edmonton, dating back to April 7, 2009. They are 9-0-2 in their last 11 games at Rexall Arena, dating back to February 28, 2008. With a win tonight, the Kings would win all games in the season series against the Oilers for the first time since 2010-11 and the second time in team history. … With eight game-winning goals, Anze Kopitar is one off the club’s record of nine, set by Marcel Dionne and Charlie Simmer in 1980-81. … With 45 wins, the Kings are one win shy of the club’s wins record. The 1990-91, 2009-10 and 2010-11 teams finished with 46 wins, while the 2012-13 club was on pace for 46 wins in the lockout shortened season. Should Los Angeles claim three points from its remaining two games, it will hit the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in club history. … Los Angeles and Boston are in a battle for the Jennings Trophy, awarded to any goaltender who plays a minimum of 25 games on the team that allows the fewest goals in the league. With two games remaining, the Kings have allowed 170 goals. With three games remaining, the Bruins have allowed 171 goals. Los Angeles plays at Edmonton and versus Anaheim, while Boston plays at Winnipeg, versus Buffalo, and at New Jersey. … The Kings record for fewest goals in a season (excluding shootout goals) is 170, set in 2011-12. The Kings have allowed 165 non-shootout goals through 80 games. The team record for fewest road goals allowed (excluding shootout goals) is 92, set in 2011-12. The Kings have allowed 85 non-shootout goals on the road through 40 games. … Los Angeles is 1-2-1 in a six-game stretch in which they will face all Pacific Division opponents once to close the season (W vs PHX, L @ SJS, L @ VAN, SOL @ CGY, @ EDM, vs ANA). … The Kings are 15-10-2 against the Pacific Division. … Anze Kopitar has 199 career goals. He has 23 points (10-13=23) in the last 23 games. By playing tonight, he will move past Bernie Nicholls for sole possession of 11th place on the club’s all-time games played list. … Dwight King has five points (3-2=5) in his last five games. … Mike Richards has gone 20 games without recording assist and has been held scoreless in the last seven games.

Edmonton Projected Lines

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Ryan Smyth – Sam Gagner – David Perron
Tyler Pitlick – Anton Lander – Philip Larsen
Matt Hendricks – Will Acton – Steven Pinizzotto

Martin Marincin – Jeff Petry
Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz
Mark Fraser – Anton Belov

Ben Scrivens
Viktor Fasth

Notes and milestones: Lines via NHL.com correspondent Derek Van Diest … The Oilers are expected to be without Jesse Joensuu (ankle), Luke Gazdic (shoulder), Andrew Ference (chest), Ryan Jones (knee), Nail Yakupov (shoulder) and Boyd Gordon (shoulder). … Edmonton’s eight-year playoff drought (including this season) is the longest in the National Hockey League. … The Oilers have used a total of 43 players, which includes 14 different defensemen and six different goalies. No Edmonton player has appeared in all 80 games. … Taylor Hall has 21 points (7-14=21) in his last 18 games. His 50 assists on the season are the most by an Oiler since Ales Hemsky recorded 51 in 2007-08. … Jordan Eberle has eight points (3-5=8) and a plus-5 rating in his five April games. … Ryan Smyth is one goal away from breaking the Oilers all-time record for power play goals with 126. He tied the record held by Glen Anderson on March 6 against the New York Islanders. He has 49 points (25-24=49) in 57 career games against Los Angeles. … The Oilers will end their season against the Canucks at home on Saturday.