Kings hope to fare better on road, face Oilers
The Los Angeles Kings will need to start narrowing the gap with the top teams in the Western Conference if they expect to eventually make a playoff run.
The Kings didn't capitalize on their recently completed seven-game homestand, so they'll attempt to turn things around Sunday evening on the road, facing the Oilers in Edmonton.
Los Angeles went 1-4-2 on its homestand, which concluded with a 3-2 loss against the Pacific Division-leading Calgary Flames on Thursday. After facing the second-place Oilers, they hop to Vancouver the following night to take on the last-place Canucks.
The Kings are 3-0-1 in their past four away from home.
Thursday's loss dropped the Kings to 4-5-4 in one-goal games this season. They've been on the losing end of the past four one-goal games.
"It's a tough time right now, because if you're bad, you're really bad. You can go after the group and fix things, but we're so close," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "It's just one small mistake that costs you. We've got to get on the other side of that small mistake."
Edmonton, on the other hand, is 7-2-0 in one-goal games this season, and the Oilers (16-6-0, 32 points) are sitting 10 points ahead of the Kings.
They'll likely carry a sour taste into the opener of their six-game homestand against the Kings. The Oilers lost to the Seattle Kraken 4-3 on Friday, ending a three-game winning streak.
The Kraken are navigating through their season as a first-year expansion team and have recently surged out of the cellar in the Western Conference.
"This was a bit of a disappointing one, we didn't play our best," Oilers defenseman Tyson Barrie said. "We'd like to be better in a lot of areas."
Edmonton coach Dave Tippett pointed to two specific areas.
"Couple too many penalties and too many turnovers," Tippett said. "That would be areas that we could fix."
Edmonton is 9-0-0 when scoring first this season and when leading after the first period.
Oilers' goalie Mikko Koskinen should be well rested when he presumably starts in goal against the Kings. He hasn't played since Wednesday when he made 32 saves in a 5-2 win against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.
Koskinen is 3-0-0 in his past three starts with a 2.33 goals-against average and .929 save percentage. He is 3-1-0 in his career against the Kings with a 3.08 GAA and .909 save percentage.
The Oilers could also be getting some reinforcements back among their defensemen.
Cody Ceci was placed in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol on Tuesday and is a possibility to return.
Darnell Nurse has missed the past six games with a broken finger but also is nearing his window to return.
Slater Koekkoek (lower-body injury) and Duncan Keith (upper-body injury) aren't far from exiting injured reserve, either.
No matter who's in the lineup, Los Angeles defenseman Alex Edler said the Kings will try to keep things simple and stick to their style.
"It's pretty simple," Edler said. "Play aggressive, try to be on them, get our forecheck going to create turnovers."
--Field Level Media
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
WATCH LIVE As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.
Disappointment widespread over budget's proposed $200-month disability benefit funding
Advocacy groups across Canada are expressing widespread disappointment about the amount of funding earmarked in the 2024 federal budget for the long-awaited Canada Disability Benefit.
Former Sask. massage therapist who sexually assaulted clients has day parole revoked
A former massage therapist who pleaded guilty to a string of sexual assaults has had his day parole revoked.