For the third year in a row, the Edmonton Oilers are facing the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. These two teams have been very entertaining to watch in the regular season and this match up will be one to watch.
Both Los Angeles and Edmonton made coaching changes mid-way through the 2023-24 NHL season. As a result, both teams were able to save their seasons and make the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Edmonton took the season series 3-1 against L.A.
The scores were:
EDM 3-2 (SO) LAK @ LAK
LAK 4-0 EDM @ LAK
EDM 4-2 LAK @ EDM
EDM 4-1 LAK @ EDM
| Team | Edmonton | Los Angeles |
| Goals For Per Game | 3.56 (4th) | 3.10 (17th) |
| Goals Against Per Game | 2.88 (10th) | 2.56 (3rd) |
| Powerplay % | 26.3% (4th) | 22.6% (12th) |
| Penalty kill % | 79.5 (15th) | 84.6% (2nd) |
Both Edmonton and Los Angeles have different approaches to the game. While Edmonton takes advantage of their superior speed and skill with players like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Los Angeles shuts down teams defensively with excellent two-way play from every line. Not to mention the physicality of players like Drew Doughty putting a wrench into most team’s attacks.
Injury News
The injury report for both teams is fairly small. For Edmonton, Evander Kane and Mattias Janmark are listed as day-to-day. But both are expected to play in game one. Los Angeles’ only listed player is Carl Grundstrom, who is coming off the injured reserve and is expected to play as well.
Players to watch:
For Los Angeles, Drew Doughty still has a massive presence when he’s on the ice which will be important if the Kings want to make it past the Oilers in the first round. Cam Talbot is coming off a fantastic season with a 2.50 GAA and a .913 save percentage during the regular season. The Kings will need Talbot to steal games.
While it is obvious that Edmonton’s Connor McDavid is going to be drawing the most attention, there hasn’t been as much focus on Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard. Hyman has reached a career-high 54 goals during the regular season while Bouchard has come into his own as an elite NHL defenseman.
This series will kick off at 10 PM EST in Edmonton on April 22nd
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