Game 77 Preview: Los Angeles vs Edmonton

Los Angeles Kings (37-25-14) vs Edmonton Oilers (23-41-13)
Thursday, April 2, 2015, 7:30 p.m. PT
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Referees: #17 Frederick L’Ecuyer, #32 Tom Kowal
Linesmen: #55 Shane Heyer, #79 Kiel Murchison
Fox Sports West, KABC 790 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick
2014-15: 67 GP (66 GS) / 33-21-12 record / 2.30 GAA / .916 Sv% / 6 SHO
Career vs Edmonton: 19 (19) / 13-1-5 / 1.54 / .939 / 1
Last Game vs Edmonton: 3/3/15 / 60 MP / 21-23 shots / 5-2 W
2014-15, Home: 35 (34) / 20-8-6 / 2.00 / .924 / 5

Edmonton Projected Starting Goaltender – Ben Scrivens
2014-15: 54 GP (50 GS) / 15-24-10 record / 3.03 GAA / .895 Sv% / 1 SHO
Career vs Los Angeles: 4 (3) / 1-2-0 / 3.69 / .895 / 0
Last Game vs Los Angeles: 3/3/15 / 60 MP / 24-29 shots / 2-5 L
2014-15, Away: 22 (19) / 2-9-7 / 3.22 / .888 / 0

2014-15 Los Angeles Leaders
Total Points: Anze Kopitar (16-44=60)
Goals: Jeff Carter (26-30=56)
Assists: Anze Kopitar (16-44=60)
Plus/Minus: Tyler Toffoli (+21; 22-22=44)
Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (83; 6-8=14)
Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (29:06; 5-36=41)
Corsi-For Percentage: Andrej Sekera (60.2%; 3-20=23)

2014-15 Edmonton Leaders
Total Points: Jordan Eberle (22-39=61)
Goals: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (24-32=56)
Assists: Jordan Eberle (22-39=61)
Plus/Minus: Keith Aulie (+2; 0-1=1)
Penalty Minutes: Matt Hendricks (76; 8-8=16)
Time On Ice: Justin Schultz (22:36; 6-24=30)
Corsi-For Percentage: Benoit Pouliot (50.6%; 17-13=30)

Rankings and Statistics
Goals/Game: LAK – 19 / 2.62; EDM – 26 / 2.35
Goals Against/Game: LAK – 7 / 2.43; EDM – t-29 / 3.29
Power Play: LAK – 15 / 18.5%; EDM – 20 / 17.8%
Penalty Kill: LAK – 19 / 80.8%; EDM – 26 / 77.6%
Shots/Game: LAK – t-10 / 30.8; EDM – 24 / 28.5
Shots Against/Game: LAK – t-1 / 27.1; EDM – 19 / 29.9
Faceoffs: LAK – 11 / 51.5%; EDM – 25 / 47.8%
Save Percentage: LAK – 13 / .911; EDM – 30 / .890
Corsi-For Percentage: LAK – 1 / 54.9%; EDM – 24 / 48.2%

Los Angeles Projected Lineup

Marian Gaborik – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams
Dwight King – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Dustin Brown – Jarret Stoll – Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford – Nick Shore – Jordan Nolan

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Robyn Regehr – Alec Martinez
Brayden McNabb – Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: A. There were no changes from the lines shown during Wednesday’s practice. Jonathan Quick left the ice first and is expected to start in net. Mike Richards, Andy Andreoff, Jamie McBain and Tanner Pearson remained on the ice for extra work with Martin Jones, so they’re not likely to play tonight. Jarret Stoll and Brayden McNabb are expected to replace Richards and Andrej Sekera. Sekera has not skated since suffering a lower-body injury in the loss to Chicago on Monday.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 74-79-39 all-time against Edmonton, a record that includes a home mark of 38-36-21. The Kings have not lost a regulation game against the Oilers in a franchise-long 13 games (10-0-3) since a 3-0 setback on November 3, 2011. They’ve won a franchise-best five straight home games against Edmonton. These teams will conclude their regular season series on April 7 at Rexall Place. Los Angeles is 2-0-1 thus far in the season series. … The Kings are 21-13-10 against the Western Conference and 12-5-7 against the Pacific Division. … Los Angeles has not scored on the power play and has allowed a power play goal in each of the last three games. … The Kings have held their opponents to one or two power plays in each of the last five games. … Dating back to February 7, Jonathan Quick is 16-6-2 with a 2.00 GAA, a .925 Sv% and three shutouts (1382:22 min / 614 shots against / 568 saves). … Drew Doughty leads the NHL with an average of 29:06 of ice time per game and has logged at least 30 minutes 30 times this season. With 198 career assists, he’s two assists shy of 200. … Dustin Brown has gone 19 games without a goal. He has two assists and a minus-seven rating over that span. … Anze Kopitar (1-4=5; +4) leads all skaters in points in the season series. … Jeff Carter has 17 points (11-6=17) and a plus-10 rating in 15 career games against Edmonton.

Edmonton Projected Lineup

Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Teddy Purcell – Derek Roy – Nail Yakupov
Taylor Hall – Anton Lander – Andrew Miller
Luke Gazdic – Matt Hendricks – Rob Klinkhammer

Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz
Martin Marincin – Nikita Nikitin
Brandon Davidson – Keith Aulie

Ben Scrivens
Tyler Bunz

Notes and milestones: Oilers lines via NHL.com correspondent Curtis Zupke … Via Zupke, Edmonton is expected to be without Viktor Fasth (IR / knee), Andrew Ference (concussion), Mark Fayne (shoulder), Iiro Parkinen (knee) and Boyd Gordon (back). Matt Fraser is expected to be scratched. … The Oilers are 1-1-0 on a three-game road trip, having won in Colorado on Monday and having lost in Anaheim last night. They are 3-14-4 on first and second nights of back-to-back sets combined. … Both Jordan Eberle (6-7=13) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (5-8=13) have 13 points in their last 10 games. … Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (20:42) leads all NHL forwards in time on ice per game. His 56 points (24-32=56) ties the career high he set last season. … With 30 points (12-18=30), Nail Yakupov is one point from tying his career high in points (31; 17-14=31), set during the 48-game lockout-shortened season in 2012-13. … 26-year-old rookie Andrew Miller has six points (1-5=6) in his last four games. … The Oilers average 8.5 penalty minutes per game, the fifth best average in the NHL. … Forward Anton Lander signed a two-year, $1.97M extension with the club on Thursday.