Kings-Edmonton preview

With the trade deadline past, the Kings can concentrate on the final 18 games of the season. You’d think this might mean we’re going to get a look at a lot of the younger players in the organization, but that’s not the way the Kings have handled things so far. Teddy Purcell was sent down this week and 38-year-old Jon Klemm brought up. So if the point right now isn’t to win games or to see the future, I’m not really sure why they are playing. But the Kings are going to be on the ice tonight in Edmonton anyway to start a four-game road trip. Unfortunately, it’s not going to be televised on regular cable. So most of you won’t be able to catch a glimpse of what prospects like Scott Thornton and Klemm look like for the future. One thing to watch, or listen for, is what goes on with the defensive pairings now that Stuart and Modry are gone. Crawford doesn’t even seem to know what he’s going to do. Assuming Blake is out, you can put the names of Johnson, Visnovsky, Preissing, Harrold, Dallman and Klemm in a hat, mix them up, pull them out two at a time and make as good a guess as I could. In fact, that might be the way Crawford decides it.

Edmonton is in a similar place as the Kings, in last place in the Northwest and without a real chance at the playoffs. The Oilers have won five in a row at home. The Kings are 2-0-1 against Edmonton this season and are trying to take the season series for the first time since 1998-99. Dan Cloutier is expected to get the start in goal for the Kings.

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