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The Los Angeles play their first playoff game in four years tonight, kicking off their first round series on the road for Game One against the Edmonton Oilers.
The Oilers edged out the Kings for the second spot in the Pacific Division, ending the year with 104 points compared to the Kings’ 99 points. Edmonton also won three of the four matchups this season, including each of the final three meetings of the year.
On paper, Edmonton’s advantage over the Kings (as well as almost any team in the NHL), is obviously the top of their forward group. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl ranked first and fourth in points this season, making for two of the most dangerous forwards in the world. Edmonton’s offensive weapons don’t stop there either, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evander Kane each on pace for at least 65 points per 82 this season and Zach Hyman only slightly below a 60-point per 82 pace. Then add in secondary scoring in Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi and the Oilers’ offense won’t be easy to contain.
For the Kings, Adrian Kempe had a breakout year, scoring 35 goals, while Anze Kopitar had 67 points himself. New additions in Phillip Danault and Viktor Arvidsson gave the Kings some much-needed help in their top-six as well, while Trevor Moore’s outstanding back half of the year was one of the team’s best surprises. Then secondary scoring in Alex Iafallo, Dustin Brown, Andreas Athanasiou and others gives the Kings a fairly well-rounded forward group, as well as one that’s relatively strong defensively. That said, the Kings just can’t come close to competing when it comes to top stars up front and I think the Oilers finishing eighth in the NHL in goals and Kings finishing 20th says enough about the offensive comparison.
On the blue line though, the Kings have managed to succeed despite missing most of their blue line through a good chunk of the season. Drew Doughty and Sean Walker won’t be suiting up in the postseason but both Sean Durzi and Jordan Spence have stepped up on the right side, while Mikey Anderson, Alex Edler, Matt Roy are all very stable in their own end and Tobias Bjornfot and Olli Maatta provide depth. The Kings managed to allow the 10th fewest goals this season and even with a relatively inexperienced defense group, they’re sturdy on the back end.
For the Oilers, they have defensemen who can produce a lot of offense. Darnell Nurse, Evan Bouchard and Tyson Barrie will all put up points from the blue line, while Cody Ceci has really rebounded over the last two years, Duncan Keith can still play close to 20 minutes per night and Brett Kulak was a decent trade deadline addition. That said, the Oilers still finished just 18th in terms of fewest goals against and while part of that can be attributed to goaltending, they’re a team that relies on offense, not necessarily on being sound defensively. In comparison, the Kings allowed the second-fewest shots against per game, while the Oilers ranked 21st in fewest shots against and in terms of strictly defending, the Kings have an advantage.
In net, it’s an interesting matchup. Realistically, the Kings have decent, but not spectacular goaltending in comparison to other playoff teams. Two-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Quick posted a solid .910 save percentage this season and was key when called upon, though Cal Petersen stumbled in a year where the net was his to lose. Quick’s solid year and experience alone are an x-factor when it comes to the goaltending battle though.
Mikko Koskinen hasn’t cut it for the Oilers, with a .903 save percentage this season and as a result, the Oilers will turn to Mike Smith. Smith was great to end the year and posted a .915 save percentage overall, but his struggle is finding consistency. If he’s on his game, he can be a key for the team’s success but the reality is that goaltending is an area where the Kings could potentially end up with an advantage over Edmonton.
In terms of special teams, the difference in power play success could be a huge factor, with Edmonton ranking third in the league and the Kings ranking 27th. Both teams had a pretty mediocre penalty kill, with the Oilers at 17th and the Kings at 22nd, but the special teams advantage certainly favours Edmonton.
On paper, the Oilers have the advantage here but if the Kings can manage to shut down the Oilers’ offense, which will be no easy task, it’ll be a gamechanger. Goaltending remains a possible x-factor as well, with some uncertainty for Edmonton. Regardless, while the Kings aren’t the favourites heading into the matchup, they’re facing a team who hasn’t managed much playoff success but does have a lot of pressure to succeed – this could end up being a much closer series than many may expect.
QuizMaker 
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • 
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