4/14 Preview – “Here To Win A Game” + Doughty To Play, EDM Lineup Notes, PP Stays Steady

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (46-24-9) @ Edmonton Oilers (48-28-5)
WHAT: 2024-25 Regular-Season Game
WHEN: Monday, April 14 @ 7:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Rogers Place – Edmonton, AB
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FanDuel Sports Network – AUDIO – ESPN LA App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TODAY’S MATCHUP: We’ve reached the final week of the regular season, as the Kings visit Edmonton for a Round 1 preview.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The two teams have held serve this season at home, with the Kings winning both games played in Los Angeles and the Oilers winning the only game played here in Edmonton.

Forward Quinton Byfield (2-1-3), Warren Foegele (1-2-3), along with defenseman Jordan Spence (0-3-3), lead the Kings this season with three points from the three games to date in the season series. For Foegele, his goal was the first of his career against Edmonton, after he spent the past three seasons as a member of the Oilers.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings did not skate yesterday as they traveled to Edmonton and hit the ice for a mostly full-team morning skate this morning at Rogers Place.

Goaltender Darcy Kuemper was first off this morning among the netminders, making him tonight’s likely starter between the pipes. Kuemper, who has a .952 save percentage from three starts against Edmonton so far this season, has a lifetime record of 10-7-3 versus the Oilers, with a .922 save percentage and a 2.31 goals-against average.

Here’s how the team lined up during today’s morning skate in Edmonton –

Kuzmenko – Kopitar – Kempe
Foegele – Danault – Moore
Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere
Malott – Helenius – Turcotte
Lewis – Thomas

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Spence
Moverare – Clarke
Burroughs

Kuemper
Rittich

23 players made the trip for the Kings, with defenseman Joel Edmundson (day-to-day) and forward Tanner Jeannot (week-to-week) the only players to remain back in Los Angeles.

That means defenseman Drew Doughty did make the trip. He skated this morning and is expected to return to the lineup tonight against the Oilers. Forwards Akil Thomas and Trevor Lewis are also here and are available to check in, should the Kings opt for any additional changes from the group that won on Saturday at home.

OILERS VITALS: Tonight is Game 81 for Edmonton, as they conclude a back-to-back set after winning last night in Winnipeg.

Edmonton is dealing with several injuries and illnesses, but their lineup from last night’s game is shown below –

Cam Dineen is in on defence & Stuart Skinner starts between the pipes for the #Oilers in Winnipeg.@PlayAlbertaCA | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/ToMmkl25hu

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) April 13, 2025

Eight Edmonton players missed the game in Winnipeg – Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Trent Frederic, Evander Kane, Mattias Ekholm, Jake Walman, John Klingberg.

Per Tom Gazzola of Edmonton Sports Talk, here’s the formal update on who will and will not play tonight against the Kings.

Per Knoblauch:

RNH expected to play
McDavid out to rest up
Walman maybe WED, Game 1 for sure
Frederic maybe early RND 1
Elkholm out for RND 1
Stecher day-2-day
Hyman maybe Game 1
Draisaitl maybe WED, Game 1 for sure
J. Brown recalled plays tonight
Hutson in tonight

😮‍💨

— Tom Gazzola (@TomGazzola) April 14, 2025

Connor McDavid will not play but Nugent-Hopkins well. In total, expecting the Oilers to dress 11 forwards and six defensemen, with several of their big names sitting out tonight’s game for one reason or another.

Storyline Of The Day – What’s At Stake
“We came here to win a game and we know what that brings us.”

That was captain Anze Kopitar, speaking in advance of tonight’s showdown with the Oilers.

The task for tonight’s game is simple. The players know it. The Kings have three games remaining and need to win at least one to secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The Kings enter today with a magic number of two. With a victory tonight, they would indeed lock up home-ice in Round 1 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, adding a slightly new wrinkle that would see the series shift to Los Angeles for the first time in four years.

“We want to be in front of our fans the whole time,” forward Alex Laferriere said. “It’d be really big to get home ice, especially with how we’ve played [at home] this year. It’s a really big one.”

Now, no matter what happens tonight, Kings/Oilers, Part 4 is already locked in.

Four straight years, man.

Not sure if that’s what the league had in mind with this playoff format or not, but here we are. Whether you wanted it or not, it’s here.

“Part of you wants a change but the bigger part of all of us wants redemption,” forward Trevor Moore said of the impending matchup. “I think that them beating us three years in a row and we get to face them again. It’s a great opportunity and we’re really lucky for that.”

It’s an interesting game tonight.

The Kings want to win and they want to secure home-ice advantage in the impending series with Edmonton. Is this a true playoff preview, though?

There’s a laundry-list of unavailable players on the Edmonton side, including Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who are expected to be good for Game 1 of the playoffs but won’t play tonight. Diminishes perhaps the spectacle, but from the Kings perspective, it doesn’t change the objective.

“If they play a full lineup or whoever is going to be out, resting for whatever reason, that’s obviously their decision,” Kopitar added. “We’re here to play a game and we’re looking to win a game.”

The Kings are close to being back at full strength, with Drew Doughty returning and only defenseman Joel Edmundson and forward Tanner Jeannot unavailable at this time. So, almost the group we’re expecting to see when the puck drops for Game 1.

The opportunity is certainly there for the Kings. Each team is in a different spot, injury-wise, and the two sides are taking different approaches to making sure everyone is ready to go for the postseason. Certainly would be nice to wrap things up tonight to make tomorrows’s game in Seattle truly about preparation.

3 To Watch For –
– Doughty is officially in tonight.

“We had to make sure he’s ready to go and he’s ready to go,” Jim Hiller said of Doughty. “We’ll get him in and we’ll see where we go from there.”

Doughty did not play last week, sitting out the three games in between the game between the Kings and Oilers in Los Angeles on April 5 and tonight’s game in Alberta, setting up the playoff preview tonight.

I think the quote on Doughty makes sense.

Hiller said even last week that the plan was to get him into a game or two during the regular season, in advance of Game 1 of the playoffs next week. Hiller said that Doughty “wants” to get those games in. With Doughty’s situation, he’s probably not going to be 100 percent until the summer, so there’s a very open line of communication with regards to how he’s feeling and there’s trust involved with that. He’ll play tonight and then everyone will reassess so that he gets what he needs to be ready to go for the postseason.

Getting guys ready for the playoffs can mean a variety of different things. For Joel Edmundson, what he needs is the rest. He’s “not ready to play” tonight, per Jim Hiller, but the expectation is still that he will be ready for Game 1. With Doughty, he’s gotten some time off and now needs to get that game or two in.

From there, we’ll see. Most players asked have said they’d prefer to not sit a game out this week, in favor of keeping momentum rolling towards the playoffs. If the Kings can clinch tonight, perhaps we’ll see a player or two rested on the back-to-back, but not expecting any sort of wholesale changes between now and the playoffs.

– While Doughty will return, which means that roles change on the blueline, one thing that is not expected to change is the five-forward power play.

“Looking for something to spark it and it seems like we’ve found it,” Kopitar said. “I guess we’re going to stick with it for at least one more game and see where that takes us.”

The Kings have scored four power-play goals in two games since going to that look, with Kevin Fiala burying in the win over Colorado on Saturday after a three-goal showing on Thursday against the Ducks. Jim Hiller said he likes the options that look presents, with Andrei Kuzmenko bringing a different playmaking threat down the left side. Ultimately, perhaps the proof is in the pudding. Four goals in two games. Why change it up?

“It’s nice, we had success, so that’s the most important thing, that’s all that matters,” Fiala added. “We had good puck movement, overall, it was dangerous. It went good.”

Kings will stay the course tonight and hope to keep their momentum rolling in that department.

– Lastly, how about this stat – Since February 1, Fiala has found the back of the net 18 times, including two goals in each of his last two games.

With those four tallies, Fiala moved into a tie for fourth in the NHL in goals during that span, trailing only Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, who has 20, and Buffalo’s duo of Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch, who each have 19.

It has certainly been a process for Fiala at times this season and not always a positive one. But both he and Jim Hiller have spoken extensively about the strides he’s taken as he’s gone through that process. Hiller projected back in January that Fiala was in line to have a huge second half of the season. He’s been on a tear since that time. His goals on Saturday gave him 34 on the season, surpassing his previous career high of 33, set in 2021-22 with the Minnesota Wild.

What a finish it’s been, as he’s finally found his ideal spot in then lineup for the Kings. Fiala has been the perfect running mate for an evolving Quinton Byfield, who leads the Kings with 30 points (11-19-30) in the 30 games since February 1. Alex Laferriere has proven the perfect third member of that line and he’s shown he can chip in as well offensively, as he led the Kings with three points in the win over Colorado two days ago.

A terrific showing from Fiala, as he now looks to take the next step as a professional, by making it happen in the postseason.

Kings and Oilers. Seen this one a few times, eh. Final regular-season meeting before Round 4 of the postseason comes up next week!