Pluses, minuses for Kings-Blues, Capitals-Oilers

NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will offer his thoughts for big games each week throughout the season.

The Los Angeles Kings (33-20-11) visit the St. Louis Blues (33-29-3) at Enterprise Center on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT, BSW, TVAS). Then the Washington Capitals (30-24-9) play the Edmonton Oilers (39-21-3) at Rogers Place (10 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN1, SNW, TNT, truTV, MAX).

Here's my breakdown of the games.

Kings

Pluses: David Rittich has played very well (2.19 goals-against average, .919 save percentage), and Cam Talbot (2.47 GAA, .916 save percentage) has turned it around since struggling. At 34 years old, Drew Doughty is leading the NHL in ice time per game (26:23), and 36-year-old center Anze Kopitar remains one of the best two-way players in the NHL. The Kings have also been playing better at home, which was a problem early on. And this game is on the road, where they are one of the better teams (19-9-4).

Minuses: They are 5-4-1 since winning four consecutive games, including alternating wins and losses in their past five. They're comfortably in a Stanley Cup Playoff position now but if they don't string some wins together and teams battling in the wild card race do, they could be in trouble. Though the Kings are third in goals-against per game (2.59), they are 20th in scoring (3.05 goals per game).

Blues

Pluses: They are still within striking distance of a wild card spot in the Western Conference (eight points back) and had a big win, defeating the Boston Bruins 5-1 on Tuesday, their first on a five-game road trip after losing the first three. Goalies Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer have been exceptional, and they have great scoring depth with eight players who have double-digit goals, including four 20-goal scorers.

Minuses: Prior to the win against the Bruins, the Blues scored 13 goals in eight games. Playing in the West, they're going to need to be able to score and keep up with teams. They've also struggled on special teams (17.0 percent on the power play, 25th; 78.6 percent on the penalty kill, tied for 19th). The Blues didn't trade or acquire anyone prior to the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline. They could have gotten assets for some players or acquired one or two others to try and bolster their playoff chances but did neither.

Capitals

Pluses: The Capitals are scrappy and only three points out of a playoff spot in the East. Spencer Carbery has them playing well despite the front office trading several pieces before the Deadline (forwards Anthony Mantha, Evgeny Kuznetsov; defenseman Joel Edmundson). Sonny Milano had a goal in five straight games prior to a 3-0 loss at the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. Alex Ovechkin is back at it with a point in 15 of his past 18 games including a recent 10-game point streak. Dylan Strome has 51 points this season and is on pace to break his NHL career high of 65 set last season.

Minuses: The Capitals have a minus-27 goal differential and are 13-14-4 away from home. They also lost their previous game to the Oilers this season, 5-0 on Nov. 24. They also could use more offense from their defensemen; Washington ranks 29th in points from the position (103) and their 14 goals is next-to-last, ahead of only the Chicago Blackhawks (13). John Carlson has five of those goals and 38 of those points.

Oilers

Pluses: Defenseman Evan Bouchard is almost a point-per-game player (0.97; 61 points in 63 games). Connor McDavid is competing for the scoring title after a slow start to the season by his standards. His 103 points trail only Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche (113) and Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning (107). Zach Hyman quietly ranks third in the NHL in goals (43) and has a chance to score 50 this season. They started the season 2-9-1 but the key to their turnaround has been a complete buy-in to team defense once Kris Knoblauch took over as coach Nov. 12.

Minuses: I know they have lost two of three, but the Oilers are playing really well and it's hard to find flaws in their game. We know they can win the high-scoring games, but now they've shown they can win the low-scoring games too.