Since we last tangled with the Edmonton Oilers…
IN: Barker; emergency recalls Bryan Rodney and Colten Teubert
OUT: Potter (concussion), Smid (neck), Petry (face). Hemsky (shoulder) did not finish the game against the Ducks.
Enemy reading: The Copper & Blue
Possible lines:
Hartikainen-Nugent-Hopkins-Eberle
Belanger-Gagner-Hemsky (or Omark)
Smyth-Horcoff-Jones
Hordichuk-VandeVelde-Eager
Whitney-Shultz
Sutton-Teubert
Barker-Rodney
Dubnyk
The Kings have kept up their new-found scoring ways even without Jeff Carter, but even so, Sutter is demanding more from Brad Richardson.
Despite their loss to the Kings last week, the Oilers haven’t been in tank-mode, even with a depleted blue line. But there can be no excuses tonight. The Kings need to play physical, aggressive, and yet disciplined hockey. A regulation win would boost their odds of making it to the postseason to 95%.