If the playoffs were to start today, the Edmonton Oilers would be facing off against the LA Kings in the first round for the third straight season. In 2022, Edmonton won the series 4-3 and in 2023 the Oil won 4-2. In both cases, the series were an absolute grind of hard working, physical, and grueling hockey.

The Kings this season are an intriguing team. They started the season looking unbeatable and a true Stanley Cup contender. Then the team fell flat an eventually firing long time coach Todd McLellan and promoting Jim Hiller to head coach. Now the ship looks to be righted again in LA with the team going 7-3-0 in their last 10 starts.

There are still some question marks around this team. Cam Talbot has looked very strong as of late but did go through a long rough patch where he actually lost the starting role for a time to David Rittich. The Dubois trade has not been the home run addition that they hoped for with the centre has 2 goals in his last 17 games. There is also the matter of age of Kopitar and Doughty being one year older.

That all being said, all bets are off in the playoffs and the Kings have the depth and tenacity to stick around . If Edmonton plays the same lacklustre or defensively irresponsible style we have seen in some recent games, they will lose.

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The lineup we see tonight may very well be the lineup for Game 1 of the playoffs:
RNH - McDavid - Hyman
Henrique - Draisaitl - Foegele
Kane - McLeod - Perry
Janmark - Ryan - Brown

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Ceci
Kulak - Desharnais

Skinner

I have been harsh on Kane for quite some time here so credit where credit is due in saying that the big man played an excellent game against the Jets even though he didn't end up on the score sheet. There has been an aspect of being snake bit for Kane for some time but there are also far too many examples of shifts where he just looked lazy. The Oilers need the Evander Kane that showed up against the Jets in the game tonight and through the playoffs.

It's tough to look around the league at adds like Walker, Toffoli, and Tarasenko making an impact on the scoresheet and seeing Adam Henrique not. Henrique has come as advertised in his faceoff wins and PK ability but has not done nearly enough on the scoresheet. Holland paid a premium for the player with the expectations being that he would either provide complimentary numbers on a third line or as a second line winger. Neither has really happened yet.

While the Oilers have outscored the opposition 5-3 while he is on the ice, the actual scoring chances for and against are 42-68. It's honestly more luck than anything that the team isn't being outscored while he is out. Tonight Henrique is playing with Draisaitl and the forward needs to find his scoring touch and find a way to make a more meaningful impact on the game than what you find in a 4th line PK specialist.

Thanks for reading!

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