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Oilers host Kings in search of 1,000th franchise victory

Dec 28, 2006 - 3:08 PM Los Angeles (13-20-5) at Edmonton (18-15-2) 9:00 pm EST

EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- Unlike most other teams in the NHL, the Edmonton Oilers have had a couple of extra days to regroup.

The Oilers go for just their third win in eight games and try to become the 17th franchise to reach 1,000 victories in Thursday's meeting against the Los Angeles Kings.

A winner of five Stanley Cups, the Oilers can reach the milestone in their 2,112th contest, which would make them the third-fastest franchise to achieve the mark. Only Philadelphia (2,018) and Montreal (2,064) did it quicker.

Edmonton yielded 21 goals in its last five defeats prior to the break and is in a four-way tie for second place in the Northwest Division, one point behind the Vancouver Canucks.

Marc-Andre Bergeron scored his fifth goal and Joffrey Lupul added his 11th for the Oilers, who surrendered the first three goals of Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars.

Playing the opener of a three-game road trip, the Kings snapped a four-game losing streak with Tuesday's 4-3 shootout triumph over the Phoenix Coyotes.

Sean Avery tied the game with 38 seconds remaining in the third period and Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown scored in the shootout for the Kings, who entered the holiday break after a 7-0 loss to the Nashville Predators.