Last season, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl entered the playoffs scoring at historic paces and the Edmonton Oilers were ready to go on a deep run as the second seed in the North Division. Instead, they were quickly swept by the Winnipeg Jets in a stunning and unexpected upset.
This season, McDavid and Draisaitl are again among the NHL scoring leaders and the Oilers will enter the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in their division. Will things be different this time?
Opposing Edmonton are the upstart Los Angeles Kings, who return to the playoffs for the first time since 2018. These Kings are much different than the teams that won a pair of Stanley Cups in 2012 and '14, but Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick remain core pillars and an exciting group of young players are ready for their first taste of the post-season.
Here is a detailed breakdown of this first-round series.
HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
Oilers: 3-1-0
Kings: 1-2-1
THE BREAKDOWN
The Oilers enter the series with home ice and should be the favourites, but earlier in the season their playoff position was far from a lock. On Feb. 11 the Oilers fired head coach Dave Tippett and were five points out of the second wild-card spot. But in the 36 games since then they've gone 24-9-3, the fifth-best record by points percentage in that time.
The Oilers' success comes from filling the net and the team is ranked seventh in goals per game with 3.49. Edmonton also boasts the third-best power play, converting on more than 26 per cent of all opportunities.
McDavid and Draisaitl lead the way, combining for 99 goals and 231 points — the most by any pair of teammates — but the supporting cast around them has grown. Evander Kane, a mid-season addition, scored 22 goals since debuting in late January, while Kailer Yamamoto crushed his previous career highs in goals and points.
The Kings won't be able to outscore the Oilers, but they can limit the damage. In fact, while Edmonton won three of their four meetings, the teams each scored 12 goals in those games.
With a top 10 goals-against rate, the Kings have the tools to slow down the high-scoring Oilers. Down the middle, Kopitar and Phillip Danault give the Kings two of the best defensive centres in the league while in goal, Quick has turned back the clock with an impressive season after it looked like his career might be over.
While goaltending is a strength for the Kings, it's a wild card for the Oilers. Mike Smith, still going strong at 40, is in line to get the bulk of starts but he struggled to stay healthy for most of the season. The Oilers were connected to pretty much every goalie on the market ahead of the trade deadline but a deal couldn't be found. Smith has rewarded management's trust, though, by ending the season on a high, posting a .943 save percentage with nine wins and two shutouts in his final 10 games.
One key loss for the Kings is Drew Doughty, who was shut down to have wrist surgery in early April. However, Doughty's offence from the back end has been replaced by rookie Sean Durzi, who had 27 points to lead all healthy Kings blue liners. Veteran Alexander Edler provides some leadership on the backend for the Kings but the group is young and inexperienced overall.
The Oilers' top defenceman, Darnell Nurse, is also battling a lower-body injury that ended his regular season a week early. But the team is optimistic he will be able to return at some point during the playoffs.
While expectations remain low for the Kings, we've seen young upstart teams go on runs before. But after the shock of the last post-season, you can expect the Oilers won't be taking anything for granted this time around.
ADVANCED STATS
(5-on-5 totals via Natural Stat Trick)
REGULAR SEASON TEAM STATS
Oilers X-Factor: Connor McDavid
It goes without saying but the Oilers will go as far as McDavid will take them. Which, as we saw last year, wasn't very far as the Jets limited McDavid to just one goal and four points in the sweep. McDavid's resume is full of individual accolades but a World Junior gold is his only meaningful team achievement. This could be the year that changes.
Kings X-Factor: Jonathan Quick
Quick's performance the past two seasons was so poor that it was hard to imagine he'd ever return to form. While he isn't at his Vezina Trophy level, Quick bounced back in a big way to steal the net from Cal Petersen and provide some stability for the only team he's known. Quick is entering the playoffs on a high, being named the third star of the week by the NHL for the second last week of the season. In April, he had a 5-1-0 record and a .915 save percentage.
BROADCAST DETAILS
Monday, May 2: at Edmonton, 10 p.m. ET (Sportsnet/CBC)
Wednesday, May 4: at Edmonton, 10 p.m. ET (Sportsnet/CBC)
Friday, May 6: at Los Angeles, 10 p.m. ET (Sportsnet/CBC)
Sunday, May 8: at Los Angeles, 10 p.m. ET (Sportsnet/CBC)
*Tuesday, May 10: at Edmonton
*Thursday, May 12: at Edmonton
*Saturday, May 14: at Edmonton
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