For the fourth consecutive season, the Edmonton Oilers will battle the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Kings won the regular season series 3-1, including back-to-back shutout victories in April. The Oilers’ only victory was a 1-0 shutout on Jan. 13. However, the playoffs are a different animal, and Edmonton has owned them in recent years, defeating them in the first round three straight seasons. But for the first time, the Kings have home-ice advantage. Edmonton is going into this series banged up, but they have the firepower and experience to finish the job. Here are three keys to victory for the Oilers to four-peat and defeat the Kings once again.
Key #1: Take Care of Business at Home
The Oilers had home-ice advantage for their previous three matchups, but that’s not the case this time as Edmonton will begin its quest for Lord Stanley on the road. That’s not ideal given the Kings’ domination at home this season. They were an impeccable 31-6-4 at Crypto.com Arena. Despite that, it’s not the end of the world for Edmonton, but they must avoid Game 7 at all costs.
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They have an uphill battle without home ice, but if they want to win this series, taking care of business at Rogers Place is imperative. The energy in Oil Country is electric, and the players feed off that. They must channel that energy and turn it into wins. Los Angeles had one of the worst road records among playoff teams, with a record of 17-19-5. The only playoff team with fewer points on the road was the Carolina Hurricanes, so Edmonton must take advantage of that. If the Oilers take care of business at home and win all three games at Rogers Place, they need to win only once in Los Angeles to defeat them in six games. That’s the mindset they should have heading into this series.
Key #2: Play With the Lead
The Oilers must start on time, dictate play early, and capitalize on their opportunities. The Kings are a stingy defensive team, so playing with the lead is crucial. Los Angeles scored the first goal, and Edmonton didn’t have an answer in their last two meetings. Yes, they were without their two best players both times, but the Kings can shut it down and limit your opportunities. Especially starting on the road, scoring first will silence the crowd and force them to chase the game. The Kings are 35-9-4 when scoring first, and 23-3-1 at home. They are also 35-1-2 when leading after two periods. On the road, they are 12-0-1 when leading after two, so they are nearly unbeatable with the lead, and Edmonton must avoid that. Force them to play outside their comfort zone, and you do that by playing ahead.
Key #3: Depth Scoring Contributions
This seems like a cop-out, but the Oilers need forwards not named Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to produce. Players such as Jeff Skinner, Connor Brown, Adam Henrique, Vasily Podkolzin, Corey Perry, and Viktor Arvidsson must produce and provide that much-needed secondary scoring. The best way for those players to be productive is by getting traffic to the net and creating chaos in front of goaltender Darcy Kuemper. Point shots with screens and deflections will either go in or force rebounds and create second-chance opportunities. Plus, the goaltender can’t stop what he can’t see, and you must make life difficult for him.
If their recent string of injuries provided a silver lining, it forced the team to play without the star players. As a result, the depth forwards stepped up in their absence, and many players got elevated roles and increased minutes. This provided more opportunities and enhanced their confidence. Hopefully, they can bring that confidence to the postseason, because this group needs everyone firing on all cylinders.
These three things must happen if the Oilers want success in this series. The biggest question mark is the health of their key players. It’s been confirmed that Mattias Ekholm will miss this series. However, getting Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Trent Frederic, Jake Walman, and potentially Evander Kane back from injury will provide a major boost and will allow them to go on another deep playoff run.
In a recent interview, Connor McDavid said, “I don’t like the theory that people are counting us out. We’re a great team here. We’ve had bumps and bruises along the way, but we’re a dangerous team when we’re rolling and we’re healthy. I think you’ll see that over the next little while, and we’re looking forward to showing that.” This is the best Kings team they’ve faced, but the Oilers know what it takes to win. People have doubted this team, so it’s time to prove them all wrong.
Keep following The Hockey Writers for all your NHL news and rumours as we gear up for the postseason, beginning Saturday, April 19. Game 1 of Oilers vs. Kings kicks off Monday, April 21 at 8 PM MT.
