The Edmonton Oilers will be hoping that home ice will help them secure a crucial opening win against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 3 of their playoff series on Friday, April 25. The Oilers, who were Stanley Cup finalists last season, are currently trailing 0-2 in the seven-game series.
The Kings edged Edmonton 6-5 in Game 1 before pulling off a much more convincing 6-2 victory in Game 2 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Projected Lineups for Oilers vs. Kings l Game 2
The Oilers will reportedly start Calvin Pickard in goal for Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round at Rogers Place on Friday, April 25. Pickard gets the start after regular goalie Stuart Skinner let in six goals each in the first two games of the series.
“I’ll approach it the same way I’ve approached every game as an Oiler; go out and do my job and give our team a chance to win.” Pickard said via NHL.com after the morning skate Friday. “Obviously, the first two games didn’t go as planned in a lot of facets, but we know we have a better effort in this locker room and we know we’re going to get it tonight.”
This could be a short postseason for the Oilers, who will be out of the playoffs if they lose their home ice games on Friday and Sunday, April 27. Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch was critical of his team’s error-prone performance in the two losses.
“Well, the last two games, five on the special teams — that’s obviously a big part of it,” Knoblauch said. “The other one is just mistakes. You know, I don’t necessarily see LA making plays to beat us. I see just mistakes, gift-wrapping opportunities…I think it’s been mostly, gaffes that have cost us.”
This is the fourth year in a row the two teams have come up against each other in the playoffs, with the Oilers winning all three of the previous three encounters.
Edmonton Oilers Projected Lineup
Forwards
Leon Draisaitl – Connor McDavid – Corey Perry
Evander Kane – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Zach Hyman
Trent Frederic – Adam Henrique – Connor Brown
Vasily Podkolzin – Mattias Janmark – Viktor Arvidsson
Defensemen
Darnell Nurse – Evan Bouchard
Brett Kulak – Ty Emberson
Jake Walman – John Klingberg
Goaltenders
Calvin Pickard
Stuart Skinner
Scratched
Vasily Podkolzin, Jeff Skinner, Joshua Brown
Injured
Mattias Ekholm
The Kings added defenseman Jacob Moverare to the roster instead of forward Alex Turcotte for Game 2, playing with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen.
Los Angeles Kings Projected Lineup
Forwards
Andrei Kuzmenko – Anze Kopitar – Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala – Quinton Byfield – Alex Laferriere
Warren Foegele – Phillip Danault – Trevor Moore
Jeff Malott – Samuel Helenius –
Defensemen
Mikey Anderson – Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov – Jordan Spence
Joel Edmundson – Brandt Clarke
Jacob Moverare
Goaltenders
Darcy Kuemper
David Rittich
Scratched
Trevor Lewis, Akil Thomas, Kyle Burroughs, Alex Turcotte
Injured
Tanner Jeannot
