Red-hot Oilers to emerge from holiday hibernation in Saturday afternoon game against Kings

With an 8-2 record so far in December, the Edmonton Oilers (21-11-2) are ready to play their first game after a nearly week-long holiday break and aim to put even more distance between where the hockey club is at now and where it was when it got off to a lacklustre start to the NHL season.

The Oilers will face off against the Los Angeles Kings (19-10-5) at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday afternoon and will try to grow their current winning streak that already sits at three games.

In their last 10 games, the Oilers are scoring an average of 3.9 goals per game while giving up just 2.2 goals per game. The Kings have been good of late as well, putting together a 6-2-2 record in their last 10 games. In that time frame, the team has been scoring an average of 3.3 goals per game and allowing just 2.1 goals per game.

In their last game before heading on their holiday break, the Oilers earned a 3-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Winger Viktor Arvidsson, who missed 15 games earlier this season due to injury, had a goal and an assist in the game, and is finding his form as the team also begins firing on all cylinders.

“I was just trying to play my game, play with the puck and work hard. I think I created a lot of chances, so I’m happy with that,” Arvidsson said after the Dec. 22 win.

“I try to be ready when I come back. I’ve been hurt a lot in the last two years. I think I’m ready and I feel ready, so it feels good.”

When the Oilers play in L.A. on Saturday, it will mark Arvidsson’s first game against his former teammates since signing as a free agent with Edmonton in the offseason. Arvidsson spent three seasons with the Kings with his best season in L.A. coming in 2022-23 when he scored 26 goals and put up 59 points in 77 games.

Saturday’s game will also be the first time Kings forward Warren Foegele plays against his former Oilers teammates since signing with L.A. in the offseason. Foegele scored 45 goals and chipped in 50 assists over 231 games with Edmonton and helped the Oilers make it all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final during the 2024 playoffs.

The last time the Oilers played the Kings was in the 2024 postseason when Edmonton eliminated L.A. from the playoffs with a 4-3 win in Game 5 of their opening round series.

Stuart Skinner is likely to start in goal for the Oilers on Saturday. After Edmonton’s win over Ottawa on Dec. 22, the netminder said he was impressed by his teammates’ defensive play. That victory marked the Oilers’ 11th win in their last 13 games.

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“I think we’re in a good spot,” Skinner said after the win. “We’re finding ways to win games. We don’t want to lose two in a row, and we’ve been doing a pretty good job of that lately.

“I think the way we’ve been playing in all ends of the ice has been pretty consistent. Heading into the break we’re going to relax a bit and kick the legs up so we can feel rested coming into the rest of the season.”

While many Oilers players have found their groove on the ice of late, winger Zach Hyman has been particularly effective since returning from an injury in the fall. Over his last 10 games, the 32-year-old forward has scored 10 goals and put up an assist as well.

Prior to his injury, Hyman had gotten off to a slow start this season in terms of his offensive statistics. Last year, he scored a career high 54 goals.

“As long as you stick with your process and you’re playing the same way, if you’re playing well and getting looks, if you continue to stick with it and if your team has the confidence to stick with you which obviously the coaching staff did … it was just a 20-game kind of blip,” Hyman said last week.

“I thought I was playing well, I just wasn’t scoring.”

–with files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press