Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins out as Oilers look for first win against Kings

The Edmonton Oilers are winless on the young season and will be hard pressed to get on the board against the Los Angeles Kings with two regulars out of the lineup tonight.

Head coach Dallas Eakins told reporters Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will not play for the Oilers against LA. Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins missed practice Monday with undisclosed injuries. Neither injury is thought to be serious.

Oilers fans will get their first look at Darnell Nurse however, as the rookie will make his NHL debut tonight.

The Kings meanwhile, aim to secure their second victory of the season and seventh in a row over the Oilers.

The Oilers are winless on the young season, losing their home opener to Calgary on Thursday before suffering a 5-4 shootout setback to Vancouver on Saturday.

Edmonton failed to hold a trio of two-goal leads, including a 2-0 advantage in the first period, and allowed the game-tying goal at the 7:06 mark of the third frame. Viktor Fasth, who ended with 39 saves, was then beaten by Chris Higgins for the lone shootout tally.

"We played good during most parts of the game," said Fasth. "We got a lot of penalties today. It's a tough team to beat when you're spending that much time in the box."

Defenseman Brad Hunt scored his first NHL goal and Mark Arcobello added another first-period tally for the Oilers, while Nail Yakupov also scored and Jesse Joensuu tallied shorthanded. Teddy Purcell and David Perron both had two assists for Edmonton.

Purcell, though, was one of three Edmonton players to not skate on Monday along with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle. All three are day-to-day as head coach Dallas Eakins termed them "banged up."

The Oilers, who visit Arizona on Thursday, did recall forward Bogdan Yakimov from the minors, so there appears a chance at least one of those skaters could miss tonight's game.

It is unknown if Fasth or Ben Scrivens will start for Edmonton in net. Fasth is 1-3-0 with a 2.97 GAA and .906 save percentage in four meetings with the Kings.

Scrivens, meanwhile, began last season with the Kings before getting traded to the Oilers following the emergence of Jones. He has faced Los Angeles just once before and stopped 46-of-50 shots faced in a loss.

The Kings began defense of their Stanley Cup championship with losses to San Jose and Arizona (overtime) before rolling past the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 on Sunday.

Tyler Toffoli, Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter and Tanner Pearson lit the lamp for the Kings, while Martin Jones made 29 saves in his first start of the season.

"I thought we did a good job in front of both nets actually," said Jones. "They did a good job of getting bodies and throwing pucks towards the net and we always seemed to come up with the puck in front of our net and in front of their net too, and bang, a couple goals."

The Kings won the opener of a six-game homestand and have claimed four straight and six of their past seven as the host against the Oilers. They also won all four meetings last season and have taken 12 of the last 15 encounters overall.

Jonathan Quick figures to face the Oilers tonight in net and has an excellent 11-1-4 mark against them in 16 starts, posting a 1.53 goals against average and .940 save percentage.

Oilers (1PT) at Kings (3PTS) - 10:30PM

LAK were 4-0-0 vs EDM last season, 2 shutouts

LAK have won 4 straight at home vs EDM, 2GA

LAK (1-1-1):

1-1-0 at home, 5-2-1 last 8 reg season home games 14GA, 18/21 on PK

0/11 on PP this season, 0/19 on PP last 5 reg season games

Carter (2G, 1A) past 2 games

EDM (0-1-1):

9GA in 2 games, 3/6 on PP, 6/9 on PK

3-3-3 past 9 reg season road games, 4/25 on PP

also winless through first two games last season

Perron (3A) has PTS in both games