Thu Feb 28 10:58:16 2008

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Oilers and Kings tangle in LA

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(Sports Network) - The bottom two teams in the Western Conference will meet tonight in Alberta, where the Edmonton Oilers welcome the Los Angeles Kings to Rexall Place.

The Kings are last in the NHL with 56 points and Edmonton is 14th out of 15 Western Conference teams with 63 points.

However, Edmonton will aim for its third straight win when it takes the ice tonight. The Oilers ended a three-game slide and began a five-game homestand with a win over Colorado on Sunday, then downed the Detroit Red Wings in a close battle on Tuesday.

Robert Nilsson scored the only goal in the shootout as the Oilers rallied to defeat Detroit, 4-3. Edmonton blew a two-goal third-period lead but hung on to earn two points from the Red Wings, who lead the NHL with 90 points.

After Mathieu Garon denied Detroit's Jiri Hudler in the third round, Nilsson lifted a backhander past Chris Osgood to give Edmonton the win.

Tom Gilbert posted a goal and two assists for the Oilers, who set a new NHL record by winning their 13th shootout this season, breaking the previous mark of 12 set by the Dallas Stars during the 2005-06 campaign.

Geoff Sanderson and Fernando Pisani also lit the lamp for Edmonton, while Garon finished the game with 40 saves.

Edmonton is 17-14-1 as the hosts this year and has won five in a row at Rexall Place. After tonight's tilt, the Oilers will wrap up their residency with tests against Columbus and Nashville.

The Kings, meanwhile, have dropped three of their last four games and last played on Saturday, when they were handed a loss in a wild game against visiting Chicago. Patrick Sharp's second goal of the contest came with 3:12 left in overtime and sent the Blackhawks to a 6-5 triumph at the Staples Center.

Anze Kopitar and Mike Cammalleri each picked up a goal and two helpers for the Kings. Peter Harrold, Patrick O'Sullivan and Tom Preissing also scored in the tough loss.

Kings starting goaltender Dan Cloutier was pulled after allowing five goals on only 17 shots through less than half of regulation. Erik Ersberg took the loss in his NHL debut despite allowing just the game-winning goal on 19 shots.

The Kings made a pair of minor deals before Tuesday's trade deadline, as they sent goaltender J.S. Aubin to Anaheim for a seventh-round pick in the 2008 draft. Los Angeles also sent defenseman Brad Stuart to Detroit for a second- round pick in 2008 and a fourth-rounder in 2009.

Tonight marks the opener of a four-game road trip for the Kings, who are just 12-17-2 as the visiting team this year. Los Angeles has dropped two straight and three of its last four on the road.

The Kings have two wins and a shootout loss in three games against Edmonton this year. The Oilers have taken six of 10 and eight of their last 13 encounters with LA and have defeated the Kings in four of the six most recent meetings at Rexall Place.