PREVIEW: Oilers at Kings

The Oilers can make it back-to-back victories to close out their three-game road trip on Saturday night against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet & Hockey Night in Canada at 8:00 p.m. MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.

Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock the Pre-Game Show that will begin 30 minutes before puck drop, along with more exclusive live and behind-the-scenes content.

PREVIEW: Oilers at Kings

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Edmonton Oilers play the second half of a back-to-back on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena against the Los Angeles Kings, aiming to record consecutive victories after their 16-game win streak came to an end earlier this week.

The Oilers remained undefeated in back-to-back scenarios this season (5-0-0) following their 5-3 comeback win over the Anaheim Ducks in the front half of their set on Friday, where Evander Kane took the headlines with his eighth career hat trick to help get his team back to winning ways.

But between the pipes, Calvin Pickard was the unsung hero of Edmonton’s 30^th win (30-16-1) in their 47th contest of 2023-24, which marks the fifth-fastest the club's reached the mark in a season.

The netminder made 24 timely and effective saves for the Oilers in his eighth start this campaign, winning his fifth straight game and improving to 6-2-0 with a .912 save percentage and 2.42 goals-against average.

The 31-year-old stopped Ryan Strome on a breakaway and Jakob Silfverberg from point-blank range in the first period to keep the determined Ducks ahead only by a goal at the break from Cam Fowler’s power-play goal.

Over the remaining 40 minutes, his contributions would play a big role in keeping things calm in the Oilers crease.

“It's definitely in jeopardy, that's for sure,” Mattias Ekholm said of the result if it weren’t for his team’s goaltender. “He played a really good game. I think he stood on his head in the first especially, and played really well throughout. So great job on him. I think he's been unbelievable ever since he got called up and he does his job perfectly, so we know that he's capable of.”

The following frame, the line of Evander Kane, Leon Draisaitl and Corey Perry – who was back as a member of the opposition in Anaheim for only the third time in his career – began to showcase their strengths which make them such an effective line.

“I think what we expected was how well they would be in the offensive zone, controlling pucks, not being knocked off the puck, finding each other in the slot and just being able to possess the puck down there and make some plays,” Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. “I really like that part of their game and their contributions offensively in the goal department was nice to have.”

Perry knocked the stick out of his former teammate John Gibson’s hands below the goal line in the build-up to Kane’s first goal, which was placed short side top shelf by the winger to make it 1-1 before the midway mark.

Perry picked up his first point as an Oiler with the primary helper and looks firmly back to the disrupting tactics that have made him a renowned figure around the League over his career, with the previous play being a prime example of how Perry picked up the nickname, 'The Worm'.

"It's nice to have him on our side," Draisaitl said. "I think he just is a master at playing the game within the game a little bit. He's done it all his life, and on top of that, he makes great plays with the puck. It was a good game for us as a line I thought and something to build on for sure. He's been great for us so far.

Ryan Strome scored just 29 seconds after Kane's tally to restore the 2-1 Ducks lead, but the winger came back to convert his second of the game on a 3-on-2 by sliding his shot along the ice and through Gibson’s five-hole, lifting the scoreline back into a tie at 2-2 through 40 minutes.

After Strome added another on the power play early in the third period, Connor McDavid orchestrated Edmonton's comeback over the final frame with assists on his team's next three goals, extending his point streak to five games with five goals and six assists and his streak against the Ducks (nine goals, 20 assists) to 12 games.

With the victory, Edmonton has won six straight against Anaheim and is 9-1-1 in the past 11 meetings, while outscoring the Ducks 60-27. The OIlers have now scored 20 goals in three wins against the Ducks this season.

Edmonton faces Los Angeles on Saturday, having already defeated the Pacific Division opponents once this season in a 3-2 shootout victory that came back on Dec. 30 when they did it in the first half of back-to-back games to close out 2024 – also against the Kings and Ducks.

The Kings will be playing their first match under interim Head Coach Jim Hiller, who takes over behind the bench following the relief of Todd McLellan from his duties on Feb. 2 after four-and-a-half years leading Los Angeles. They started the season 20-7-4, but are just 3-8-6 in their past 17 games – including a 0-4-4 run during that stretch.