Kings @ Oilers - Nov. 25, 7:30 PM

Vizzie Nuts · 11-25-2009, 09:45 AM

First GDT - Go easy

@

OPPONENT: 13-9-2 VS OILERS: 10-11-3

Game InfoGame Day: Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Game Time: 7:30 MT
Radio: 630 Ched.
TV: Rogers Sporsnet West
Onilne stream: http://atdhe.net/10548/watch-los-ang...dmonton-oilers--Thanks to Jumptheshark
Location: Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta
Referees: Marc Joannette

, Francois StLaurent
Linesmen: Lonnie Cameron, Lyle Seitz

History
All Time History:
Whenever some one posts an outlandish trade proposal, they always have a disclaimer: "Well, the trade proposal might be stupid, but if Gretzky could be traded to the Kings, so can Random Dude to Blah-blah team. So there".

And, without a doubt, this will be the legacy of the OILERS and the KINGS (unless of course, they meet up in the playoffs and bad blood takes over).

The trade was significant for the extremely unhappy OILERS fans and calling for Peter Puck's head. This trade was also significant for the Kings and the state of California as it made hockey popular in this region.

Recent History:
The Oilers and Kings have been part of two significant trades in the recent past. The first one being trading Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene for Lubomir Visnovsky. Like the Gretzky trade, this trade caused some division among Oiler fans. Many considered Stoll to be the future captain (although this was tempered by his concussion) and Greene was considered to be the next Jason Smith. However, forward time to the present day, most Oiler fans are happy with this trade as Visnovsky is a bonafide two-way defenseman. This trade was also good for the Kings as it gave them a leader on defense (Greene) and a competent two-way center in Stoll. Greene was able to somewhat mentor the kid like Doughty and Stoll is important to the Kings in providing secondary offense.

The Oilers also acquired Patrick O'Sullivan in a three way trade involving the Hurricanes and Kings. O'Sullivan went to the Oilers, Erik Cole to the Canes and Justin Williams went to the Kings. In terms of which team won the trade, the early favorite would have to be the Kings. Williams (along with Oiler favorite Ryan Smyth) has provided the perfect foil for the talented Kings forward Anze Kopitar, the current league points leader. The Oilers could be considered second place as O'Sullivan has been somewhat effective putting points on the board. The consensus is that he can be much better and should maybe not shy away from taking a hit. The Canes are third as Cole is struggling to find his game.

The Season So Far:
OILERS:
After a very good, start to the 2009 -10 campaign, the Oilers got hit with the injury bug. Key players such as Souray, Staois, Stone and now Khabibulin have missed games for an extended period of time. Add in the flu bug that affected most of the Oilers team, one can see why the Oilers are currently below .500.

Now, injuries have played their part, but the Oilers have not helped their situation with some lackluster play so far. Players such as Horcoff, Moreau, Gagner and Cogliano have not been playing up to speed. This resulted in an embarrassing loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. This prompted a closed door meeting between the leaders of this group and the coaching group.

The next game, the Oilers blanked the Phoenix Coyotes 4 - 0, with the goals coming from the leadership group (Moreau, Souray, Hemsky, Horcoff). It remains to be seen if the Oilers that continue to play are the same Oilers that played the first two periods of the Coyotes game or the ones that got fat and happy.

Bright spots: Penner, Smid, Visnovsky

KINGS:
On a team level, the Colorado Avalanche are the surprise of the League. On an individual level, the (somewhat) surprise is Anze Kopitar. Currently, the league leader in points just ahead of such luminaries as Ovechkin, Gaborik and Thornton. This has powered the Kings to an impressive 13 - 9 - 2 record which places them a respectable 6 in the West conference.

In addition to Kopitar, young Drew Doughty has been a stud on defense (currently third in scoring on the Kings roster). The Kings have also got some veteran scoring from Ryan Smyth and Justin Williams. Add in the youngsters on the Kings rosters doing well and one can see why the Kings have the record that they do.

The Kings are currently on a two game losing streak losing games to the Philadelphia Flyers and the (hated) Calgary Flames. They will look to bounce back.

Bright spots: Kopitar, Doughty, Smyth (before he went down)

Roster Updates OILERS:
It appears that the Oilers will go with the same team that got the win over Phoenix.

KINGS:
Per LAKingsinsider.com, Stoll did not practice with the team on Tuesday. Instead they had youngster Andrei Loktionov playing centre on the second line.

Edit: Confirmed per LAKingsinsider.com that Stoll will not be playing tonight.

Injury report OILERS:
Marc Pouliot - Sports hernia surgery - out till January
Fernando Pisani - Colitis - no return date set
Denis Grebeshkov - Knee - out till mid-December
Ryan Stone - Knee - day-to-day
Taylor Chorney - Ankle - day-to-day
Nikolai Khabibulin - Back - day-to-day

KINGS:
Rob Scuderi - Undisclosed lower body injury - day-to-day
Ryan Smyth - undisclosed upper body injury - out till mid-December
On another note, the Kings' headline for the preview for this game is as follows: "Banged-up Kings head to Edmonton".

LineupsOILERS:

Penner - Gagner - Hemsky
Jacques - Horcoff - Brule
Moreau - Cogliano - Potulny
Reddox - O'Sullivan - Stortini

Souray - Staois
Visnovsky - Smid
Gilbert - Strudwick

Deslauriers
Dubnyk

KINGS:

Purcell - Kopitar - Williams
Frolov - Loktionov - Brown
Parse - Handzus - Simmonds
Segal - Richardson - Ivanans

Jones - Doughty
Johnson - O'Donnell
Drewiske - Greene

Quick
Ersberg

Who to watch?OILERS TO WATCH:
Penner - Having a tremendous season. Not only putting up points on the board, but being effective on the PK. The power forward that Oiler fans were hoping for. Offer sheet is starting to look like a bargain.
Hemsky - Quietly having a very effective season as well. The razzle dazzle has been missing from his game early in the season, but was back in full form in the Phoenix game. Still has one of the sweetest contracts in the league.
Horcoff - Has taken a lot of flak from fans especially with his cap hit. Is currently riding a five game point streak. Got his feet moving in the Phoenix game and that resulted in a goal.

KINGS TO WATCH:
Kopitar - The current league leader in points. Has cooled down a bit with no goals in his last six games. However, the Oilers would write him off at their own peril.
Doughty - No sophomore slump for him. He is also having a very good season for the Kings. Currently third on the team in points and a decent +4 in the plus-minus stat.

Quotable"If we can play with some quickness, with that puck, then we got a chance to take advantage of the skills that we do have"--Pat Quinn

"We've got to figure this out now. We've dropped two in a row now. We're going to have a couple days of practice now. We've got to look ourselves in the mirror and get the job done" -- Anze Kopitar. (boy, he likes to say 'now' a lot)

Season SeriesThis is a first time meeting between these two teams.

Team Comparison

	Oilers	Kings
Games played	24	24
Points	23	28
Wins	10	13
Shutouts	1	none
Power Play	22% (T-11th)	22% (T-11th)
Penalty Kill	78.8% (20th)	74.4% (27th)
Win % When Leading After 1	71.4% (16th)	74% (13th)
Win % When Leading After 2	85.7% (19th)	100% (T-1th)
Win % When Trailing After 1	27.3% (18th)	40% (8th)
Win % When Trailing After 2	18.2% (12th)	30% (3rd)
Goals/Game	2.92	2.96
Goals Against/Game	3.00	3.04
Shots/Game	26.9	29
Shots Against/Game	32.6	26.2
Face off %	46.2	48.7

Team Leaders

	Oilers	KINGS
GOALS:	Dustin Penner (13)	Anze Kopitar (14)
ASSISTS:	Ales Hemsky (15)	Anze Kopitar (19)
POINTS:	Dustin Penner (26)	Anze Kopitar (33)
+/-:	Dustin Penner (12)	Three way tie for first(+5)

Today's Videos

http://oilers.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=4&id=52420
http://oilers.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=4&id=52502 - Staios, Cogliano, Visnovsky, Buchberger and Quinn with insights.
http://oilers.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=4&id=52504 - Some insight from LA's locker room.

Obligatory Youtube Clip
Ethan Moreau's version of boom goes the dynamite:

oilersnyc · 11-25-2009, 09:47 AM

Worst GDT evar!!!!

Haha - just kidding - nice job.

We SHOULD win this game ...
Posted via Mobile Device

Vizzie Nuts · 11-25-2009, 09:55 AM

Need help embedding youtube vid - halp!

Edit: Figured it out.

Boilers · 11-25-2009, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vizzie Nuts

Need help embedding youtube vid - halp!

click on the youtube square. Paste the link between the [YT..[/yt]and erase everything up to and including the = sign.

**BlueBelle** · 11-25-2009, 10:07 AM

Looks awesome! Thanks so much for putting this together. We need this win tonight too... well we need several wins. Is everyone doing exactly what they did monday to ensure a win? Hmm?

Cawz · 11-25-2009, 10:09 AM

How come this game is on Sportsnet on a Wednesday? I though TSN had the Wednesday night rights, the same as CBC on Saturday nights?

Cogliano13 · 11-25-2009, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cawz

How come this game is on Sportsnet on a Wednesday? I though TSN had the Wednesday night rights, the same as CBC on Saturday nights?

They may have rights to other games, but they don't have this game. It's definitely on SNW.

Looking forward to this game, I hope we're able to use our effort from last game to our advantage.

Ghostbuster · 11-25-2009, 10:25 AM

Going to my first game this season. Look out for the only guy wearing a Horcoff jersey in the whole building.

Lounge Act · 11-25-2009, 10:51 AM

Go Oilers, I hate the Kings

CDman · 11-25-2009, 10:57 AM

Another effort like the last game and they will lose this one.

HopelessOilFan · 11-25-2009, 11:07 AM

Smid looks so tiny in that video, hes really bulked up

TheBrew · 11-25-2009, 11:18 AM

I love watching Dustin Brown get labeled like that.

jeremywilhelm · 11-25-2009, 11:18 AM

Paste Kopitar into the boards every shift and the Oil will win this game. Try to play a puck possesion or run and gun game and the Oil are screwed.

**Ozolinsh_27** · 11-25-2009, 11:19 AM

I'm going to tonight's game, first time Oiler game in person - I can't wait, its going to be awesome.

I am the Liquor · 11-25-2009, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cawz

How come this game is on Sportsnet on a Wednesday? I though TSN had the Wednesday night rights, the same as CBC on Saturday nights?

Tsn has Calgary vs Phoenix.

KingLarry · 11-25-2009, 11:49 AM

tickets still available for tonight!

http://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/110...4&minorcatid=9

Velocirapture · 11-25-2009, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingLarry

tickets still available for tonight!

http://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/110...4&minorcatid=9

If only I could justify 100 bucks for a half price single :p

What little munny's I have has gone to Oil!

Valic · 11-25-2009, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cogliano13

They may have rights to other games, but they don't have this game. It's definitely on SNW.

Looking forward to this game, I hope we're able to use our effort from last game to our advantage.

This game starts after 7:30. TSN has exclusive rights up till 7:30.

T-Funk · 11-25-2009, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingLarry

tickets still available for tonight!

http://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/110...4&minorcatid=9

Buy them quick before the team gives them to homeless people and claims we sold out!

Reimer · 11-25-2009, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Funk

Buy them quick before the team gives them to homeless people and claims we sold out!

No they claim to be sold out because they actually are sold out. A company like Rexall would just buy the tickets and use them as a tax write-off.

Reimer · 11-25-2009, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghostbuster

Going to my first game this season. Look out for the only guy wearing a Horcoff jersey in the whole building.

You might be surprised. I saw a few Horc jerseys on monday night. I for one love to wear my vintage Messier jersey. I got some really weird looks one year when I wore my Falcons jersey to an Oiler game.