Kings at Oilers preview

KINGS (11-16-2) at OILERS (17-10-3)
9 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-W, NHL.TV

The Oilers are 1-3-0 in their past four games after going 6-2-1 in their previous nine games. The Oilers, who began a four-game homestand with a 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, enter Friday one point behind the Arizona Coyotes for first place in the Pacific Division. The Coyotes play the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.
Jonathan Quick, who is 1-3-1 with a 2.02 goals-against average and .925 save percentage in his past five games, will start for Los Angeles.
They Kings are 2-10-1 on the road and are playing the first of a back-to-back. The two road wins are in the fewest in the NHL this season.
Kings coach Todd McLellan returns to Edmonton for the second time this season. McLellan coached Edmonton for four seasons before going to Los Angeles.

Players to watch

Kings center Anze Kopitar has 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in 29 games and leads Los Angeles in scoring.
Oilers center Connor McDavid has 28 points (13 goals, 15 assists) in his past 15 games. McDavid has 51 points (19 goals, 32 assists) is tied with teammate Leon Draisaitl (18 goals, 33 assists) for the NHL scoring lead.

They said it

"We can't really put our finger on it, a lot of times we're trailing right off the bat on the road and that's a huge thing. If we can get that first goal and take the other team's crowd out of it, we want to disappoint the other team's home crowd, that's the best thing about playing on the road and winning on the road is just silencing a crowd, that's the best feeling." -- Kings defenseman Drew Doughty on Los Angeles' 2-10-1 road record
"I think we all know where we're at in the standings, but we try and take it game by game. We want to get that top spot back and tonight we have to take a step in the right direction, show what we're capable of, and play our game." -- Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Jeff Carter -- Nikolai Prokhorkin -- Tyler Toffoli
Adrian Kempe -- Blake Lizotte -- Austin Wagner
Kyle Clifford -- Michael Amadio -- Trevor Lewis
Joakim Ryan -- Drew Doughty
Ben Hutton -- Matt Roy
Kurtis MacDermid -- Sean Walker
Jonathan Quick
Jack Campbell
Scratched:Paul LaDue, Ilya Kovalchuk, Matt Luff
Injured:Derek Forbort (back), Alec Martinez (wrist)

Oilers projected lineup

Jujhar Khaira -- Leon Draisaitl -- Sam Gagner
James Neal -- Connor McDavid -- Josh Archibald
Markus Granlund -- Gaetan Haas -- Alex Chiasson
Joakim Nygard -- Riley Sheahan -- Patrick Russell
Darnell Nurse -- Ethan Bear
Oscar Klefbom -- Joel Persson
Kris Russell -- Adam Larsson
Mikko Koskinen
Mike Smith
Scratched:Brandon Manning, Colby Cave
Injured:Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (hand), Zack Kassian (back), Matt Benning (head)

Status report

Kassian took part in the morning skate but will not play against the Kings. … Edmonton recalled Cave from Bakersfield of the AHL on Wednesday, but he will not play.

Stat pack

Draisaitl has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past two games. He has 35 points (12 goals, 23 assists) in his past 20 games. … Quick made his NHL debut 12 years ago Friday, stopping 15 of 17 shots in a 8-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres.