Elton John didn’t sing “Saturday afternoon’s all right for fighting,” but the Kings and Edmonton Oilers will throw blows in a Saturday matinee that could go a long way toward determining their respective paths through the playoffs.
The Oilers are already battered. They have been without captain Connor McDavid, the near-consensus best player in the world, since March 20, when he extended his scoring streak to 13 games. Edmonton’s leading producer this season – and the third-most prolific in the NHL despite missing games – is Leon Draisaitl, and after returning from one injury and playing 2½ games (five points), Draisaitl left Thursday night’s 3-2 victory over San Jose and did not return.
After the game, Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch had no firm update on Draisaitl and his status for Saturday, though the Oilers did not recall a 13th healthy forward Friday. Oilers TV’s Tony Brar reported that Draisaitl did not practice Friday.
“You never want to miss those guys. You never want your top players not to play because every time they’re not in, it decreases your chances of winning,” Knoblauch told reporters.
Saturday’s will be a pivotal meeting between the rivals, who have split the season series, with each team winning its home game so far and one match to be played in each venue still. They’ll also meet in Edmonton on April 14. Both prior meetings were decided by one goal. The Kings have won seven of their past nine games and 12 of their last 15, though Edmonton has kept pace, going 7-2-1 in its past 10.
The Kings, with the NHL’s best home mark at 28-4-4, hold a two-point lead on the Oilers. That has them in position to host a first-round series after starting the playoffs in Edmonton for three consecutive postseasons and being bounced from the first round each time.
An even larger goal might be coming into focus for the Kings. With their 4-2 victory over Utah HC on Thursday, they gained no additional separation from Edmonton but did close the gap to just three points on Vegas for the Pacific Division lead. There are no head-to-head matches remaining, but the Kings already took care of business by taking three of four showdowns with the Golden Knights.
Thursday’s final score hardly told the whole story in Salt Lake City, where Darcy Kuemper was under siege, with the Kings outshot 16-3 through 20 minutes and 25-10 after 40. A nullified goal, two four-on-four tallies and some other unconventional plays helped the Kings shoplift two points, though Kuemper contributed by far the most to their five-finger discount.
Kevin Fiala, who scored a go-ahead goal Thursday, said the Kings’ dressing room displayed some frustration at the second intermission, but neither panic nor wavering confidence.
“I mean, we didn’t play (well) at all in the first two periods, but Darcy kept us in and then who cares?” Fiala told reporters. “It was a 1-1 game and I think we just flipped the switch, which is awesome. So yeah, it was a good team win.”
Kuemper, however, was not only the most solid element for the Kings on Thursday, but their top individual performer all season. His bounce-back campaign has sent him into the stratosphere, having turned in 12 straight starts with two or fewer goals allowed. That’s tops in the NHL season, four times the length of Igor Shesterkin’s longest streak with the New York Rangers, three times the duration of Connor Hellebuyck’s for Winnipeg and more than twice as long as Andrei Vasilevskiy’s lengthiest stint with two or fewer goals allowed for Tampa Bay.
Coach Jim Hiller called Kuemper the Kings’ “backbone all year.”
“You can’t really say enough good stuff about how he’s played this year,” another goal-scorer Thursday, Trevor Moore, told reporters. “He’s given us so much confidence in how we play, and he steals games like that.”
For the Oilers, every game might feel like a heist, a fight-or-flight foray with an undermanned crew.
Not only have McDavid and Draisaitl missed action, but starting goalie Stuart Skinner is one of a host of other key players currently sidelined. Evander Kane, who has flummoxed the Kings in the playoffs, has not played this season. Trade deadline acquisition Trent Frederic (they also added defenseman Jake Walman from San Jose) has yet to suit up in orange and blue. Top defender Mattias Ekholm has also been fettered by injury, including one that will likely keep him off the ice on this road trip.
With the Oilers hobbled and the division race tightening, opportunity abounds for the Kings down the stretch.
EDMONTON AT KINGS
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: FDSN West