"He's a lot better today," Sutter said. "[But] I'm not losing him for two weeks over one game, and I think hours matter."
The Kings have lost three straight and been outscored 11-4 since they clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on March 19. Defenseman Rob Scuderi said he thought they outplayed the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild (the two most recent losses) for the majority of those games. He also said it's a different challenge playing teams out of playoff contention.
"I think some of the teams we've played -- especially a team like Winnipeg, who's out of it -- they're playing light and they've got kind of nothing to lose," Scuderi said. "They play hard. They're trying to play the right way but it's not a whole lot of pressure, and sometimes those teams are the toughest teams to play with, with 15 games left. I think we're doing 90-95 percent of things right. It's just burying the puck when we have those opportunities."
Edmonton, which skated at Staples Center, will start goalie Laurent Brossoit, who seeks his first NHL win in his sixth NHL start (0-4-1). Right wing Nail Yakupov will start on the top line with Taylor Hall and Leon Draisaitl.
Here are the projected lineups:
OILERS
Taylor Hall - Leon Draisaitl - Nail Yakupov
Pat Maroon - Connor McDavid - Jordan Eberle
Lauri Korpikoski - Mark Letestu - Zack Kassian
Matt Hendricks - Adam Cracknell - Iiro Pakarinen
Andrej Sekera - Mark Fayne
Griffin Reinhart - Jordan Oesterle
Darnell Nurse - Adam Clendening
Laurent Brossoit
Cam Talbot
Injured: Brandon Davidson (lower body), Oscar Klefbom (lower body), Eric Gryba (knee), Benoit Pouliot (shoulder), Adam Pardy (hand), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (concussion), Andrew Ference (hip)
Scratched: Luke Gadzic, Anton Lander, Nikita Nikitin
KINGS
Milan Lucic - Jeff Carter - Tyler Toffoli
Tanner Pearson - Anze Kopitar - Dustin Brown
Dwight King - Nic Dowd - Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford - Nicholas Shore -Vincent Lecavalier
Brayden McNabb - Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin - Alec Martinez
Rob Scuderi - Luke Schenn
Jonathan Quick
Jhonas Enroth
Injured: Kris Versteeg (foot), Marian Gaborik (knee), Matt Greene (shoulder), Jordan Nolan (back)
Scratched: Jamie McBain, Andy Andreoff
Status report: Talbot and Nurse reportedly were on the ice after they missed practice Friday. … Sutter mixed up the lines and put Toffoli up with Lucic and Kopitar … Quick was off the ice first … Versteeg skated on his own. ... If Lecavalier can't go, Andreoff would draw into the lineup.
Who's hot: McDavid has a six-game point streak (eight assists). ... Maroon matched a career-high with three points (one goal, two assists) on Thursday. ... Doughty has a three-game point streak (one goal, two assists).
