After a thrilling regular season, the Edmonton Oilers are back in action on Monday as they look to avenge last year's championship loss. Game 1 against the LA Kings is tonight at 10 p.m. EDT. The two divisional rivals will duke it out over a seven-game series.
Edmonton is pretty banged up right now, though. Trent Frederic is day-to-day, but he is expected to make his return to the lineup for Game 1. Defensemen Troy Stecher, John Klingberg and Mattias Ekholm are all out. Defenseman Alec Regula and left wing Evander Kane are also on injured reserve.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are fully healthy again, though. With that in mind, here's what their lineup should look like tonight. Note that it can change:
Forwards:
- LW Zach Hyman - C Connor McDavid - RW Connor Brown
- LW Vasily Podkolzin - C Leon Draisaitl - RW Viktor Arvidsson
- LW Jeff Skinner - C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - RW Kasperi Kapanen
- LW Mattias Janmark - C Adam Henrique - RW Corey Perry
Defensive Pairs:
- Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard
- Brett Kulak and Jake Walman
- Ty Emberson and Josh Brown
Goalies:
- Stuart Skinner
- Calvin Pickard
Powerplay Units:
- Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Evan Bouchard.
- Corey Perry, Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson, Darnell Nurse, and Jake Walman.
Penalty Kill Lines:
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Adam Henrique, Jake Walman, and Ty Emberson.
- Mattias Janmark, Connor Brown, Darnell Nurse, and Brett Kulak.
Edmonton wrapped up its regular season with a shutout win over the San Jose Sharks. They finished 48-29-5.
Odds for tonight's Oilers game and a look at the upcoming schedule
The Edmonton Oilers are slight underdogs against the Kings in Game 1. Here are the full odds from Odds Shark:
- Edmonton is -102 to win on the moneyline.
- The Kings are -122 to win outright.
- The puck line is Edmonton -1, which is +255
- The Kings are -238 to cover.
- The total is 5.5 goals.
- The over is -101, and the under is -115.
For now, the only thing on the immediate schedule is at least three games with the LA Kings. They'll play on April 23, April 25 and April 27.

If the series remains undecided, they will play Game 5 on April 29, Game 6 on May 1 and Game 7, if necessary, on May 3. Once someone wins four games, the series will end.
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