The set-up: The Los Angeles Kings never expected they'd have goaltender controversy this season but former Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Quick has lost seven of his last eight starts. He has been especially porous in his past two. He was pulled after allowing five goals on 19 shots in a 6-2 loss against the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 23 and when he returned in goal last Thursday, he allowed five more goals in a 5-0 loss at the Nashville Predators. The 29-18-5 Kings welcome the disappointing 23-24-4 Edmonton Oilers to Staples Center tonight, who are coming a 6-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.

Edmonton: The Oilers have been a huge disappointment this season, as after last season's points, they currntly have just 50 points, leaving them 13 points behind the final wild card team in the West (the Wild have 63 points). However, the Oilers are coming off their best seven-game stretch of the season (5-1-1), which includes wins over the Golden Knights and Lightning , who each lead their respective conferences. They've been led by reigning Hart Trophy winner, Connor McDavid, who has scored a career-high four goals and has six goals and an assist in his last two games. Ryan Strome set up a pair of goals in the first period against the Lightning to give him five assists in his past three games. Cam Talbot benefited from the increase in offense and turned aside 32 shots on Monday to improve his save percentage to .917 over his past five games (4-1-0).

Los Angeles: It's been all downhill for Quick since a 5-0 shutout against the Oilers back on Jan. 2 in Edmonton. Backup Darcy Kuemper has stepped in, posting back-to-back shutouts last week against the Dallas Stars and Arizona Coyotes, and the career backup hasn't allowed a goal in his past 170 minutes, 30 seconds. "Darcy is seeing the puck right now. The puck's hitting him," Stevens said after the 6-0 victory against the Coyotes on Saturday. "He's probably played as well as he's ever played, and he's really come in and played sound for us. With a couple days in between, you don't often get that. We'll enjoy the win, but there's no question we're going to need both our goalies to win hockey games as we move along here." Captain Anze Kopitar increased his point total to 15 (three goals, 12 assists) in his last 13 games after scoring and setting up a goal against Arizona. He has reached the 20-goal plateau (20 goals and 55 points) for the ninth time in his career and ignited a three-goal surge during a lengthy power-play opportunity to propel Los Angeles in its rout of Edmonton in the first encounter.

The pick: The matchup in goal is expected to be Ward and Quick. I'm ready to call it a shootout but I do want to make the Over a 10* play.