The Edmonton Oilers return to the comfy confines of Rogers Place Monday night as the Los Angeles Kings roll into town.
Hotel rooms were plenty for the Oilers last week, taking a four-game road trip between January 4th and 11th, beating the Seattle Kraken, Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks, while falling in rough fashion to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
1. Going 3-1 on a four-game road trip is about as good of an outcome as you can ask for these days. After tonight’s game, there will be another road trip: three games on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, as the Oilers visit the Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks.
2. But before that, the Oilers will look to get back against the Kings, after falling 4-3 in overtime to them out of the Christmas break. Warren Foegele had a one-goal, three-point night, while his linemate Quinton Byfield had two goals — including the game-winner — on a three-point night of his own.
3. The Oilers have had life since that two-game California swing where they also fell to the Anaheim Ducks, going 5-1 after returning to home ice to beat the Utah Hockey Club on New Year’s Eve. Leon Draisaitl’s five goals and eight points have been key over that stretch, but so has the four-goals and five points from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The latter of the two seemingly finding his stride offensively, scoring seven goals and 10 points in his last 13 games, dating back to Dec. 12 against Minnesota.
4. Daily Faceoff projects Darcy Kumper to get the start for the Kings, with Stuart Skinner tending the crease for Edmonton. If you want to talk about players contributing to the Oilers’ recent run of success, look no further than Stuart Skinner. Dating back to November 23rd, he’s 10-3-1 with a .919 save percentage and 2.24 goals against average. His wins are tied for third-most among goalies over that time, while his save percentage ranks sixth and goals against average eighth among goalies with over 10 starts in that time.
5. Corey Perry, who has chipped in seven goals and 14 points in 41 games this season, leads all active Oilers in career games (81) and career points (48) against the Kings. He may not have the foot speed and is someone who could start seeing more time in the press box than on the ice depending on who is picked up ahead of the trade deadline. His goals per hour this season rank fourth on the team, and it’s been hard to argue with the contributions overall, which Hockey Viz pegs as a high-end third-line winger.
6. The Kings enter tonight on a nice little run of their own, going 5-1 in this last six since coming out of the Christmas break. They parlayed their win over the Oilers into more against the Philadelphia Flyers (5-4 final score), the New Jersey Devils (3-0), the Tampa Bay Lightning (2-1) and Winnipeg Jets (2-1 in overtime).
7. The Kings’ Western road trip, however, hit a speed bump in Calgary, where they lost 2-1 to the Flames on Saturday night. They’ll be looking to get back in the win column, before continuing their trip through Vancouver and Seattle. Adrian Kempe (four goals, seven points), Foegele (two goals, five points) and Byfield (three goals, five points) lead the way offensively for the Kings over this six-game stretch.
8. Defenceman Drew Doughty remains out of the Kings lineup has recovers from a fractured ankle, while another blue liner, Joel Edmundson, is nearing a return from an upper-body injury. He suffered the injury on January 4th, when he got flipped in the air trying to jump for a puck, landing on his neck.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, and senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.