What they are saying
“When you have those two guys, anything is possible. They’re two of the best players in the world, they’re so dynamic together, especially on the power play. So it’s nice to have them both back for sure.” — Oilers forward Connor Brown on having McDavid and Draisaitl in the lineup
“We know them better and better every year. We know what they do and what they want to do, and we try to keep preparing ourselves for that. The past three seasons haven’t been good enough, but I think this is the best team we’ve had since maybe I got here (2016-17). I think we’re well prepared, everybody is in the right mindset and we’re ready to roll.” — Kings forward Adrian Kempe on playing the Oilers for the fourth straight year in the first round
Oilers projected lineup
Zach Hyman — Connor McDavid — Connor Brown
Vasily Podkolzin — Leon Draisaitl — Viktor Arvidsson
Jeff Skinner — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Kasperi Kapanen
Mattias Janmark — Adam Henrique — Corey Perry
Darnell Nurse — Evan Bouchard
Brett Kulak — Jake Walman
Ty Emberson — Joshua Brown
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Derek Ryan, Max Jones, Cam Dineen
Injured: Mattias Ekholm (undisclosed), Trent Frederic (ankle), Evander Kane (hip, knee), John Klingberg (lower body), Troy Stecher (undisclosed)
Kings projected lineup
Andrei Kuzmenko — Anze Kopitar — Adrian Kempe
Warren Foegele — Phillip Danault — Trevor Moore
Kevin Fiala — Quinton Byfield — Alex Laferriere
Jeff Malott — Samuel Helenius — Alex Turcotte
Mikey Anderson — Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov — Jordan Spence
Joel Edmundson — Brandt Clarke
Darcy Kuemper
David Rittich
Scratched: Kyle Burroughs, Akil Thomas, Pheonix Copley, Jacob Moverare, Trevor Lewis
Injured: Tanner Jeannot (undisclosed)
Status report
Defensemen Ekholm and Stecher have been ruled out for Game 1. Ekholm will not play at all during the series. … Frederic, a forward, will be a game-time decision. … The Kings held an optional morning skate. … Copley, a goaltender, was recalled on an emergency basis from Ontario of the American Hockey League on Monday. … Jeannot, a forward, remains week to week.
NHL.com independent correspondent Dan Greenspan contributed to this report
