YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
BY THE NUMBERS
2016-17 Head-to-Head: Oilers vs. Kings
Oilers/Kings Stats Comparison
Game Notes: Oilers vs. Kings
2016-17 Oilers Player Statistics
2016-17 Kings Player Statistics
2016-17 NHL Standings
GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Tom Gazzola reports on the key storylines prior to tonight's game
PRE-GAME RAW | Benning
PRE-GAME RAW | McDavid
PRE-GAME RAW | Maroon
PRE-GAME RAW | Oilers head coach Todd McLellan
WEDNESDAY'S VIDEOS
OILERS TODAY | Striving For More
RAW | McDavid
RAW | Eberle
RAW | Hendricks
RAW | McLellan
MINORS MINUTE | World Juniors Update
WEDNESDAY'S BLOGS & ARTICLES
BLOG: McLellan, players still not satisfied
BLOG: Talbot ready to shoulder heavy workload
BLOG: Sekera update
FUTURE WATCH: Condors host Winterfest
MORE INFORMATION
You can watch tonight's game within the Oilers region on Sportsnet West.
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INSIDE THE OILERS

News and notes from Wednesday's Oilers practice and media availability.
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PRE-GAME REPORT

EDMONTON, AB - The Oilers have an opportunity to make the end of 2016 rough for a divisional opponent when they host the Kings tonight at Rogers Place.
Edmonton sits in second in the Pacific Division with 42 points. A win for the Oil will continue to place distance between Edmonton and Los Angeles, which currently has 38 points and sits in fifth place in the Pacific. The Kings are coming off a 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks last night.
The Oilers players are exuding confidence, finishing 3-1-0 before their Christmas break. Going into big divisional matchups isn't as intimidating for Edmonton now as it was in the past.
"I think you can see it on everyone's faces that we believe," said Oilers winger Pat Maroon. "We believe in here and we go in with a lot of confidence knowing we can beat Anaheim, we can beat San Jose and Calgary and all those good teams. When we go into matches, everyone in here believes we can win and everyone in here believes we're a playoff team. This is the second half of the season so everyone is going to start talking about the playoffs right now. We've got to find ways to win hockey games, and certainly against teams in our division."
Edmonton is 5-3-2 against the Pacific this season, and their quality of play this year against those opponents has given the Oilers extra juice moving forward.
"I think we've seen it all year," said Oilers centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. "With the way we've played against teams like this and the way we've played against teams in our division has been a lot better this year. These points have become huge this time of the year so we've got to up our game even a little bit more."
That confidence comes at a very good time for the Oilers, as they look to push forward toward the playoffs in a tight division.
"Everyone is neck and neck," said Maroon. "LA and Anaheim and San Jose are teams we've got to find ways to beat and compete with them all year. Tonight will be another stepping stone in the right direction for us to see where we're at. We're doing some really good things right now and hopefully we can continue that against a really good team over there."
THE CONSISTENT KINGS
Regardless of any injuries or the Kings being on the tail end of a back-to-back, they're still the Kings, winners of two of the last five Stanley Cups.
That's the sentiment around the Edmonton locker room. After their loss to Vancouver last night, and the Oilers expect the Kings to come out fast regardless of the lack of rest.
"These guys, especially after last night losing to Vancouver, they're going to come out flying. We've got to play the way we know we can," said Nugent-Hopkins.
Where the Oilers match up better now versus in the past is they can neutralize the physicality of the Kings. But the Oilers are still working on the consistency in that department, while the Kings could put on a clinic on regularity.
"They don't get enough credit for how they play night in and night out," said Oilers Head Coach Todd McLellan. "It's almost like a mechanical machine. They do the same things over and over again, they do them better than most teams and as a result they end up winning more games than they lose. The physicality, the size, that type of stuff - we're getting there, we're getting bigger and stronger - but I think our game has to mimic theirs a little more where we're doing it every night, religiously versus just kind of in and out at different phases."
"We're a bigger team, but it's more that we don't give in to teams pushing against us," added Nugent-Hopkins. "There's a huge pushback now and a lot of times we're actually the ones initiating that first push. It's a big difference from the past few years."
DEFENSIVE SHUFFLE
Andrej Sekera is expected to miss tonight's game due to illness. The pairings at morning skate were Oscar Klefbom with Adam Larsson, Kris Russell on the left with Matt Benning - who draws back into the lineup after a three-game absence - and Brandon Davidson with Eric Gryba.
"It's always an opportunity to play," Benning said of his return. "Our D corps is really strong this year so for me I just look to go in there and do the best I can. It's a competitive D corps, that's for sure."
Cam Talbot will make his league-leading 33rd start in net for the Oilers.
-- Chris Wescott, edmontonoilers.com

PREVIEW

OILERS (18-12-6) vs. KINGS (17-13-4)
TV: 7:00 p.m. MT; Televised on Sportsnet West
Head-to-Head:
This is the second of five meetings between the Oilers and Kings this season and the first of three games in Edmonton. The next time these teams will meet is on March 20th in Edmonton.
The last time these teams met was on November 17th in Los Angeles, where the Kings won by a score of 4-2. Darnell Nurse and Oscar Klefbom each scored for the Oilers in the loss.
Oilers team scope:
The Oilers have only two regulation losses in December (6-2-4) through 12 games and currently sit tied for second in the Pacific Division with Anaheim at 42 points.
Goaltender Cam Talbot was named NHL Third Star of the Week for the week ending on Sunday, December 25. In the week that led to these honours, Talbot went 2-0-1 with a 2.26 GAA and a .926 save percentage to help the Oilers get five out of a possible six points on a three-game road trip
Talbot has been particularly stingy against Western Conference opponents, posting a 13-4-3 record in 20 games, with a 2.13 GAA and a .932 sv%
The native of Caledonia, ON leads the NHL in games played (32), minutes (1,908:13) and saves (888). With 17 wins, he's tied for fifth place in the NHL.
Forward Patrick Maroon needs two goals to match his career best of 12 goals in one season (2015-16). Maroon has 16 points (10G, 6A) through the first 36 games of the season, which also put him on pace to match or improve his career best point total (34) in a season, set in 2014-15 with Anaheim.
Kings team scope:
Los Angeles has 38 points and sit in the second Wild Card spot through 35 games this season. They are 10-4-1 at home but only 7-10-3 on the road.
The Kings dropped a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks last night and had to travel to Edmonton immediately after the game.
Jeff Carter leads the way for the Kings with 30 points and 19 goals through 35 games. Carter has 28 points and 18 goals in 22 career games against the Oilers.
Tyler Toffoli is second on the team with 20 points though he's been out due to injury.
Third and fourth in scoring on the Kings is a pair of defencemen: Alec Martinez has six goals and 19 points and Drew Doughty has five goals and 17 points.
Anze Kopitar has only three goals and 16 points through 30 games this season but has 10 goals and 35 points in 39 games against the Oilers in his career.