Kings at Oilers preview

KINGS (9-14-1) at OILERS (11-11-2)
9 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-W, NHL.TV

Quick, who had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee on Oct. 30, has missed 15 games. He's 0-3-1 with a 4.55 goals-against average and .845 save percentage in four starts this season.
The Kings, who seek their third straight win, are 7-8-0 in Quick's absence.
The Oilers are 2-1-1 under coach Ken Hitchcock, who replaced Todd McLellan on Nov. 20. They were 1-6-0 in their previous seven games.
Goalie Mikko Koskinen will start for the sixth time in the past eight games for Edmonton; he's 6-2-1 with a 2.29 GAA and .908 save percentage in 10 games (nine starts).

Players to watch

Quick is 21-5-5 against Edmonton, his most wins against any NHL opponent. He's one shutout from his 50th in the League.
Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his past seven games.

They said it

"He's a big part of our team and he has been for the last decade, so when you get a player like that back, it just gives you a boost." -- Kings forward Dustin Brown on the return of goalie Jonathan Quick
"The system hasn't changed much, it's more of his concepts and his ideas and the way he thinks that our team should have been playing before, and he's tried to bring that into the room." -- Oilers center Connor McDavid on coach Ken Hitchcock

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Kyle Clifford -- Jeff Carter -- Tyler Toffoli
Ilya Kovalchuk -- Adrian Kempe -- Matt Luff
Austin Wagner -- Nate Thompson -- Sheldon Rempal
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin -- Alec Martinez
Dion Phaneuf -- Paul LaDue
Jonathan Quick
Cal Petersen
Scratched:Oscar Fantenberg, Michael Amadio
Injured:Jonny Brodzinski (shoulder), Jack Campbell (knee), Trevor Lewis (lower body), Carl Hagelin (knee)

Oilers projected lineup

Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Alex Chiasson
Drake Caggiula -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Jesse Puljujarvi
Milan Lucic -- Kyle Brodziak -- Zack Kassian
Jujhar Khaira -- Ryan Spooner -- Patrick Russell
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse -- Kris Russell
Kevin Gravel -- Matt Benning
Mikko Koskinen
Cam Talbot
Scratched: Jason Garrison, Chris Wideman, Ty Rattie
Injured: Andrej Sekera (Achilles), Tobias Rieder (upper body)

Status report

Los Angeles assigned goalie Peter Budaj to Ontario of the American Hockey League to make room for Quick … Kovalchuk will move up to the third line after playing on the fourth the past two games … Gravel will play in place of Garrison.

Stat pack

Kovalchuk has no points in his past 10 games after having 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in his first 14 games. … Kopitar has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past six games. … McDavid has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his past seven games.