17 hours Ago By Gerry Moddejonge
Article content Bring on the Kings. Again. In what’s quickly becoming a tale as old as time in the Pacific Division, Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers are opening the NHL playoffs against Anze Kopitar and the Los Angeles Kings.
And with an entire slate of 82 regular-season games full of ups and downs under their belts, the two foes are set to clash in Round 1 for the fourth straight year. But so far, this has been less of a to-and-fro divisional rivalry and more like the Oilers using the Kings as a welcome mat to wipe their muddy skates on their way in through the post-season door. Three times they’ve met.
Three times the Oilers have won the series. And they’ve only been getting more efficient at it with each passing year. Seven games in 2022.
Six games in 2023. Five games in 2024. Just don’t go betting the farm on an Oilers sweep in 2025 quite yet.
Unlike the previous three meetings, the two teams swapped spots in the standings with the Kings (48-25-9) finishing second in the division, four points ahead of the third-place Oilers (48-29-5) — albeit by the charity of four Bettman loser points. But it makes all the difference when it comes to home-ice advantage in the series, with Games 1 and 2 taking place in southern California on Monday and Wednesday (8 p.m.
, Sportsnet), before heading north for Games 3 and 4 next Friday and Sunday. (If necessary, Game 5 will go April 29 in L.A.
, Game 6 on May 1 in Edmonton and Game 7 on May 3 back in L.A.).
But beyond having support of the home crowd and last line changes on their side to open playoffs, the Kings took home-ice advantage to full effect over the regular season, earning their way up the standings with a with a franchise record 31 wins inside the friendly confines of Crypto.com Arena. And it’s come from a staunch defence that has allowed just 201 goals against, second only to the President’s Cup-winning Winnipeg Jets (191), while clamping down on the rush — both chances allowed and goals surrendered — better than 31 other teams.
A big part of the Kings’ success has been the off-season addition of Darcy Kuemper in net. His .922 save percentage was second best among goalies who played at least 35 games, behind only Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck (.
925). And with two Oilers finishing in the top six in points, including league-leading goal scorer Leon Draisaitl (52 goals in 71 games), it’s safe to say this series will be serving up a healthy dose of offence vs. defence.
And speaking of health, all those bumps and bruises that kept a host of starters out of the Oilers lineup heading down the playoff stretch all of a sudden feel a lot better here in the post-season. “We’re a dangerous team when we’re rolling and we’re healthy. And we are healthy,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid , who missed nine of the last 13 games, while Draisaitl sat out 11 of the final 14.
“I think you’ll see that over the next little while, and looking forward to showing that.” This time around, the series will revolve around an improved Kings defence hanging back and waiting for Edmonton’s high-octane offence to make the first move. “They play, I would say, more of a passive game in terms of the neutral zone.
But that being said, they’re a really good team,” McDavid said. “They have been for a long time. “It’s a great test for us, a great challenge.
I’m excited about starting there.” While they finished off the Kings in five games last year, it was the only time the Oilers held home-ice advantage on their run through the final three playoff rounds that followed, going 8-4 at home and 7-6 on the road on the way to appearing in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. But before they can get close to the finish line again, the Oilers know they have to get out of the starting blocks properly, like they do against the Kings come playoff time.
Or like they’ve always done, at least. “This is our fourth time we’ve played them. Every time, we come in with the same mentality that it’s a new series,” McDavid said.
“There’s no carry-over, we don’t start up a game or up two games. It’s first team to four and it’s a challenge every time. “They make you play a really solid game, it takes a really clean, solid, hard-working game to beat them and that’s what we’re going to have to be prepared to do.
And we are prepared to do it.” Again. E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.
com On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge.
