When the Kings and Oilers play Thursday night, few introductions will be needed. The Kings have former Oilers Colin Fraser (injured), Matt Greene, Ethan Moreau, Dustin Penner and Jarret Stoll. The Oilers have former Kings Eric Belanger, Ryan Smyth and Colten Teubert.
Teubert, a 2008 first-round pick who was sent to Edmonton in a trade for Penner, was called up from the AHL on Wednesday and might make his NHL debut.
“It’s good for him,” Terry Murray said. “He’s a real good kid. Unfortunately, he was injured here, the last year that he was here, with the broken wrist and the recovery from the injury. They didn’t find out about that until the summer, I believe. … That’s good for him. I hope he takes good advantage of it and plays well. He’s a good kid.’’
As noted yesterday, there’s still plenty of debate about how Smyth should be remembered in Los Angeles — his stint with the Kings ended last summer, after he asked to be traded closer to home for family reasons — but there’s no debate that Smyth is still on top of his game on the ice. Smyth enters Thursday’s game with five goals (tied for the team high) and five assists in 11 games, and Smyth is still dangerous around the net, both with his ability to stand in front and deflect shots, and with his ability to create chances on wraparounds. Drew Doughty said the Kings remember well what Smyth brings to the table…
DOUGHTY: “You know, I don’t know how he does it. We always talk about this. Smytty is just slippery. He’s obviously great, so he gets lucky a lot. I remember in my first year, he got that one goal against me where he dangled me. First I stopped, and it hit my skate and went right back to his tape, and then he put it through my legs. He’s just slippery. He’s really good at what he does. He’s good at using his arms and kind of shielding the puck away from other people. And I know we’re all going to be expecting that wraparound, so Quickie will be fully prepared for it.’’
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