The Oilers' biggest worry is their crease. Andersen's knee has him out until "maybe" December, according to Mike Babcock, so the net belongs to whoever is behind him on the depth chart. Levi made his Oilers debut against Vancouver, and that 2-game set with the Canucks ended 6-5 and 9-7. Edmonton's defense has tightened since then, allowing 1, 2 and 1 goals in the last 3. The question is whether that holds against a team that has spent 4 games trying to find a second goal.
The matchup that matters is the Kings' structure against Connor McDavid and Draisaitl, who were reunited on one line after Nugent-Hopkins went down. Los Angeles showed in Vegas that it can play a low-event game for 65 minutes. Keeping it there against the best player in the world is a bigger ask. Edmonton is down so many centers that the Kings can survive a lot of the game. What they can't survive is giving up a big night to the top line.
Puck drop is 7:30 PM PT at crypto.com Arena. Neither team plays again before this one, so both arrive with a couple of days' rest. Panarin, Quinton Byfield and Adrian Kempe were projected together in Vegas, and that line has to produce more than a single power-play goal if the Kings are going to get their first win. For Edmonton, Hyman's 2-week timeline from the start of October puts him somewhere close to a return. If he's back, the Oilers' forward group gets noticeably deeper.
The bottom line: the Kings can defend, but they still have to score, and so far they haven't. Edmonton has been winning without many of its regulars and without big nights from its stars. One of those things stops on Tuesday.