VS. 
Game Time: 6:00 PM PST | 9:00 PM EST
Location: Rexall Place | Edmonton, AB
TV Broadcast: Away Team: No TV
Home Team: Oilers PPV
Radio Broadcast: 1150 AM; XM 208 Online broadcast: NHL Radio 
The Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings have been among the Western Conference's worst teams for most of the season, but they're both playing quality hockey right now.
The Kings look to win their third straight game while the Oilers hope to finish off a perfect five-game homestand when the teams meet Tuesday at Rexall Place.
The Oilers (21-21-4) remain in last place in the Northwest Division, but they have won four in a row for the first time since a five-game streak in November 2006.
The Kings (17-27-2) have played their last six at home, and are beginning a three-game tour of western Canada. They own the league's worst record, but have won two straight including a 4-3 shootout win over Dallas on Saturday.
Teddy Purcell leads Manchester with 53 points and selected as a starter for the Canadian AHL All-Star team. Peter Harrold is first among AHL defensemen with 38 points and was named to the USA AHL All-Star team.
The Kings have lost four of their last five games at Edmonton.
The Kings have a road record of 6-12-1, and their last 10 games is a record of 5-5.
The Oilers have a home record of 12-11-1, and their last 10 games is a record of 5-4-1.
This is the first road game for the Kings in 2008.
The Oilers have a 3 game winning streak at home.
Jason LaBarbera is 2-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA lifetime against Edmonton.
Kings captain/defenseman Rob Blake is scheduled to tomorrow set a new franchise record for most games played by a Kings defenseman as part of the Kings-Edmonton Oilers game in Edmonton. Blake is slated to play in his 781st game as a King, which would break the mark set by Mattias Norstrom (Blake had previously held the record of 662 games until Norstrom surpassed that mark in November of 2005).
The Kings continue their Canadian Road Trip on Friday night against the Calgary Flames in Pengrowth Saddledome.
"You can look at it any way you want but the bottom line is we got a win today and we got a win our last game, so we're going in the right direction,''
Patrick O'Sullivan said. "It’s a process with our team. We're trying to learn, trying to experience everything it takes for a team to get better.''
"I think when we know we have to be at our best, we’ve got the ability to raise our game to that level,''
Crawford said. "It’s a sign of immaturity when you’re not there. We’re going to concentrate on singular challenges here in making sure the group stays entirely focused the way we have against good teams.''
"We were pretty frustrated with the 5-on-3 for 2 minutes. It's tough to start the game like that,"
O'Sullivan said. "We took a few too many penalties. But even though we were down, we felt confident because we knew how we had to play against this team. We'd beaten then twice before in our building, so we just tried to stick with our game plan."
"Most of the year, being two goals down, right away a lot of us were being negative and feeling sorry for ourselves,''
LaBarbera said. "Unfortunately you're not going to get very far feeling like that. We did a good job responding, being positive and being confident in ourselves. Confidence is a big thing in athletics. Sometimes you get down two goals and lose confidence. We just have to build off that mindset and hopefully keep it up.''
"I've got to give the guys credit,''
Crawford said. "They're the ones who dug their heels in and said, `Hey, this not what we're going to be.' We've talked lately about not letting our work ethic be questioned ever. We make mistakes and we'll continue striving to limit our mistakes, but we’ll never accept not having a strong work ethic. I thought the guys dug in their heels and worked hard to a man today.''
"I don’t mind batting cleanup,''
O'Sullivan said. "Turco is an unpredictable goalie so I kind of had a plan of what I was going to do out there. That is one of the moves I've been doing my whole life on breakaways, so it worked out for me.''
Brian Willsie on being injured:
"I hope I wake up tomorrow morning and it feels great,''
Willsie said. "Some injuries are a little more straightforward but, with a back, I don’t know.''
Cammalleri and Crawford on Cammy's Injury:
"I'm trying push it and get back as soon as can,''
Cammalleri said. "I hope to play as soon as I can, so I go on this trip with all the optimism and we'll see what happens.''
"Cammalleri still a little ways away,''
Crawford said. "We’re hoping he has a couple days where he starts to feel a lot better. He's doing active-release therapy and acupuncture to try to speed things along. He's attacking it as well as he can but it’s a tedious, time-consuming rehabilitation. I know nobody wants be back more than Mike.''
Los Angeles Kings
Mike Cammalleri (Injured ribs on 12/26/07) IR
Kevin Dallman (Broken foot on 12/23/07) day-to-day
Brian Willsie (Sore lower back injury on 1/13/08) day-to-day
Edmonton Oilers
Matt Greene (Fractured left fibula & ligament damage on 10/31/07) IR
Joni Pitkanen (Flu on 1/10/08) day-to-day
Geoff Sanderson (Flu on 1/10/87) day-to-day
Tyler Spurgeon (Undisclosed injury on 10/2/07) IR
Raffi Torres (Torn right ACL on 12/15/07) IR
10/27/07 - Oilers @ Kings 4-1 (Kings win)
12/03/07 - Oilers @ Kings 4-3 (Oilers win in Shootout)
Leading Scorers:
Forwards: 
Kopitar, LA - 42 points (18 G, 24 A, -12) |
Horcoff, EDM - 43 points (19G, 24 A, +6) Defensemen: 
Visnovsky, LA - 26 points (4 G, 22 A, -14) | Gilbert, EDM - 16 points (7 G, 9 A, +7)
Probable Starters: (subject to change) 
LaBarbera, LA - 30 GP Record: 10-16-1 GAA 2.92 SV% .909 |
Garon, EDM 26 GP Record: 14-9-1 GAA 2.34 SV% .918 
Players you might want to keep an eye on: 
Alexander Frolov, LA - 34 points (9 G, 25 A, -10) | Ales Hemsky, EDM - 36 points (12 G, 24 A, +5)
Recent Manchester Monarchs Call Ups: 
Teddy Purcell, MCH - 53 points (14 G, 39 A, +1) | Peter Harrold, MCH - 38 points (7 G, 31 A, -11)
GAA:
LA – 3.33 (29th in NHL)
EDM – 2.87 (22nd in NHL)
Avg. Goals:
LA – 2.8 (10th in NHL)
EDM – 2.41 (26th in NHL)
Power Play %:
LA – 20.6 (4th in NHL)
EDM – 14.1 (28th in NHL)
Penalty Kill %:
LA – 77 (29th in NHL)
EDM – 84.5 (8th in NHL)
(As of 1/14/08)
Pacific Division Standings:
1. San Jose Sharks (25-12-7) 57 pts
2. Dallas Stars (25-17-5) 55 pts
3. Anaheim Ducks (24-17-6) 54 pts
4. Phoenix Coyotes (23-20-1) 47 pts
5. Los Angeles Kings (17-27-2) 36 pts
Western Conference Standings:
1 Red Wings 70
2 Sharks 57
3 Wild 54
4 Stars 55
5 Canucks 54
6 Ducks 54
7 Flames 52
8 Avalanche 51
9 Blues 50
10 Blue Jackets 48
11 Coyotes 47
12 Predators 46
13 Oilers 46
14 Blackhawks 44
15 Kings 36
Key/Division Games Tonight:
Canadiens @ Islanders 4:00 PM PT | 7:00 PM EST
Senators @ Capitals 4:00 PM PT | 7:00 PM ET
Canucks @ Blue Jackets 4:00 PM PT | 7:00 PM ET
Hurricanes @ Maple Leafs 4:30 PM PT | 7:30 PM ET
Avalanche @ Lightning 4:30 PM PT | 7:30 PM ET
Thrashers @ Red Wings 4:30 PM PT | 7:30 PM ET
Flames @ Predators 5:00 PM PT | 8:00 PM ET
Sharks @ Coyotes 6:30 PM PT | 9:30 PM ET
Stars @ Ducks 7:00 PM PT | 10:00 PM ET
***GDT - Los Angeles Kings @ Edmonton Oilers - 1/15/08*** 
adgy-san
