Game 38 Preview: Los Angeles at Edmonton

Los Angeles Kings (18-12-7) at Edmonton Oilers (7-22-7)
Tuesday, December 30, 2014, 6:30 p.m. PT
Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB
Referees: #36 Dean Morton, #27 Eric Furlatt
Linesmen: #54 Greg Devorski, #94 Bryan Pancich
FOX Sports West, KABC 790 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Martin Jones
2014-15: 8 GP (7 GS) / 3-3-1 record / 2.04 GAA / .921 Sv% / 2 SHO
Career vs Edmonton: 2 (2) / 2-0-0 / 0.00 / 1.000 / 2
Last Game vs Edmonton: 4/10/14 / 60 MP / 17-17 shots / 3-0 W
2014-15, Away: 5 (5) / 2-2-1 / 2.37 / .908 / 2

Edmonton Projected Starting Goaltender – Ben Scrivens
2014-15: 27 GP (23 GS) / 5-13-5 record / 3.16 GAA / .892 Sv% / 1 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 2 (1) / 0-1-0 / 4.09 / .892 / 0
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 10/14/14 / 44 MP / 12-15 shots / 1-6 L
2014-15, Home: 17 (16) / 5-9-2 / 2.98 / .897 / 1

2014-15 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Jeff Carter (10-17=27)
Goals: Tyler Toffoli (12-14=26)
Assists: Drew Doughty (3-18=21)
Plus/Minus: Tyler Toffoli (+16; 12-14=26)
Penalty Minutes: Matt Greene (38; 2-1=3)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (29:05; 3-18=21)
Corsi-For Percentage: Trevor Lewis (59.1%; 6-4=10)

2014-15 Edmonton Leaders
Total Points: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (10-13=23)
Goals: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (10-13=23), Taylor Hall (10-11=21)
Assists: Jordan Eberle (6-14=20)
Plus/Minus: Keith Aulie (+2; 0-0=0)
Penalty Minutes: Matt Hendricks (32; 2-5=7), Keith Aulie (32; 0-0=0)
Time On Ice: Justin Schultz (21:33; 3-12=15)
Corsi-For Percentage: Jeff Petry (52.9%; 3-5=8)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – 18 / 2.70; EDM – 27 / 2.11
Goals Against/Game: LAK – t-6 / 2.35; EDM – 30 / 3.42
Power Play: LAK – 9 / 20.3%; EDM – 29 / 12.0%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 16 / 80.5%; EDM – 17 / 80.4%
Shots/Game: LAK – t-6 / 31.4; EDM – 25 / 28.4
Shots Against/Game: LAK – 13 / 28.7; EDM – t-17 / 29.6
Faceoffs: LAK – t-11 / 50.9%; EDM – 19 / 49.0%
Save Percentage: LAK – 7 / .918; EDM – 20 / .885
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – 3 / 54.0%; EDM – 17 / 50.2%

Los Angeles Projected Lines

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

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Alec Martinez – Matt Greene
Brayden McNabb – Jamie McBain

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: C. The only Kings to participate in a morning skate earlier today were Marian Gaborik and Martin Jones. Gaborik was hopeful that he’d be able to re-enter the lineup and should be expected to slot opposite Jeff Carter on Anze Kopitar’s line. Because Jones faced shots earlier today and Jonathan Quick started the first night of a back-to-back set in Calgary, Jones is projected as tonight’s starter. He defeated Edmonton in his last appearance at Rexall Place, a 17-save shutout on April 10, 2014. Brayden McNabb may re-enter the lineup tonight in place of Jeff Schultz.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 73-79-38 all-time against Edmonton, a record that includes an away mark of 35-43-11. The Kings are on a 12-game point streak (10-0-2) at Rexall Place and haven’t lost a road game in regulation to the Oilers since February 28, 2008. … The Kings have won a franchise-record seven straight games overall against the Oilers and have recorded points in a franchise record 11 straight games (9-0-2) since a 3-0 home setback on November 3, 2011.… After tonight’s game, the teams will meet on March 3 and April 7 in Edmonton and April 2 in Los Angeles. … Los Angeles has out-shot Edmonton 212-118 over their last five games. … The Kings are 12-6-4 against the Western Conference and 6-2-3 against the Pacific Division. … Los Angeles has a 57.6% Corsi-for rating in five-on-five play over the last 17 games (903 CF / 666 CA). … Los Angeles has averaged 3.00 goals per game over their last 23 games (69 GF / 23 GP) and has allowed 2.65 goals per game over their last 16 games (45 GA / 17 GP). … They haven’t been outshot over the last 13 games (6-5-2) and have averaged 34.8 shots per game over that span (453 shots / 13 GP). Opposing goalies have posted a .921 save percentage over that span (417 saves / 453 shots). … While the Kings rank second in the NHL with a home power play percentage of 27.4%, their road power play ranks 25th at 10.9%. While their home penalty killing is tied for seventh at 86.2%, they rank 27th on the road at 74.1%. Los Angeles is 4-8-5 in away games this season. … Marian Gaborik has points in his past six straight games played (7-3=10). The streak ties Justin Williams’ streak from November 15-26 as the longest point streak by a King this season. … Trevor Lewis is on a career-long four-game point streak (2-2=4). …Tyler Toffoli has goals in two straight games (2-0=2) for the fourth time in his career. Toffoli has 12 goals this season which ties his career high in 2013-14. … With 29 career game-winning goals, Anze Kopitar is tied for fourth place on the club’s all-time list with Rob Blake and Dustin Brown. … Jamie McBain has 98 career points (27-71=98), he is two points shy of 100 in his career. … Jeff Carter has eight points (3-5=8) in the last six games.

Edmonton Projected Lines

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Nail Yakupov – Derek Roy – Teddy Purcell
David Perron – Leon Draisaitl – Matt Fraser
Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – Tyler Pitlick

Oscar Klefbom – Mark Fayne
Nikita Nikitin – Justin Schultz
Andrew Ference – Jeff Petry

Ben Scrivens
Viktor Fasth

Notes and milestones: Lines via NHL.com correspondent Derek Van Diest  … Forwards Derek Roy and Matt Fraser are expected to make their Oilers debuts. … Roy was acquired yesterday from Nashville in exchange for Mark Arcobello. … Fraser was claimed off waivers from Boston yesterday. … Justin Schultz is on a two-game points streak (1-1=2) and has four points (1-3=4) in his last five games. … Taylor Hall has seven points (3-4=7) in 12 career games against Los Angeles. … Todd Nelson is looking for his first win as the Oilers head coach since his promotion on December 15. … Ben Scrivens has played in 99 career NHL games. His next game will be his 10