For the second straight spring, the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings are meeting in the first round of the NHL playoffs, after once again finishing second and third, respectively, in the Pacific Division standings. Last year, Edmonton defeated Los Angeles in a classic series that went to the seventh and deciding game.
Edmonton has played Los Angeles more times in the Stanley Cup playoffs than any other single team. This will be the ninth series pitting these divisional foes against each other. The Oilers have won six of the previous eight series, including the last four.
The Kings and Oilers’ storied rivalry has included stunning comebacks and surprise upsets, overtime thrillers and record-breakers, with the greatest player of all time suiting up for both sides over his career.
Last year The Hockey Writers revisited all of the Oilers’ battles with the Kings in the postseason. This year, to get set for the start of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Monday (April 17), we dive a bit deeper to count down the most memorable postseason games between the two teams.
The Miracle on Manchester (April 10, 1982: Kings 6 vs. Oilers 5)
As much as Oilers fans would like to forget it, Game 3 of the 1982 Smythe Division semi-final is indelibly memorable. In fact, it’s so iconic that it has its own nickname: just mention the “Miracle on Manchester”, and everyone immediately knows what’s being talked about.
‘Manchester’ references the location of the game, the Great Western Forum on West Manchester Street in Inglewood, CA. ‘Miracle’ references the stunning third-period comeback by the home team. From the Oilers’ perspective, ‘Tragedy’ would be a much more apt descriptor.
The game began with the best-of-five series knotted at one game apiece, a surprise given Edmonton had finished a whopping 48 points ahead of Los Angeles in the regular season standings.
The Oilers dominated the first 40 minutes and took a 5-0 lead into the second intermission, only for Los Angeles to score five times unanswered in the third period, including three goals in the final 5:22. Steve Bozek banged home a rebound past Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr with just five seconds left to send the game to overtime, where Daryl Evans scored the game-winning goal for Los Angeles at 2:35 of sudden death.
Having pulled off the biggest comeback in NHL playoff history, the Kings took a 2-1 series lead. Los Angeles would go on to win the series in five games, completing the biggest upset in NHL playoff history.
One For the History Books (April 9, 1987: Oilers 13 vs. Kings 3)
Edmonton fans were accustomed to offensive fireworks from the Oilers in the 1980s. After all, theirs was a team that averaged more than five goals every season from 1981-82 to 1985-86, the five highest-scoring seasons by a team in NHL history.
But those who packed Northlands Coliseum for Game 2 of the 1987 best-of-seven Smythe Division Semi-Final bore witness to a display not seen before, nor since, and quite possibly never again.
Going into the 1987 Playoffs there was already an unease throughout Oil Country lingering from the Oilers’ crushing loss to the Calgary Flames in the 1986 Smythe Division Final. Then the vastly outmatched Kings stunned the Oilers 5-2 in their series opener, and that discontent turned into a full-scale meltdown.
The Oilers’ response was to go nuclear on the Kings, setting the NHL playoff record for goals in Edmonton’s 13-3 Game 2 victory. The home team led 6-1 after 20 minutes, establishing the NHL playoff record for most goals scored by a team in the first period, then scored three times in the middle frame and added four more goals in the final period.
Wayne Gretzky had one goal and six assists, tying the NHL record for most assists in a playoff game and equalling his own Oilers franchise postseason record for most points in a game. Jari Kurri tied the Oilers’ single-game postseason record with four goals and equaled the NHL record with three power-play goals in a playoff game. Thirty-five postseasons later, those benchmarks still stand.
The Oilers won the next three games in the series to eliminate Los Angeles 4-1, and ultimately went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Friend Turned Foe (April 5, 1989: Oilers 4 at Kings 3)
From 1979 to 1988, Gretzky suited up for 120 NHL playoff games with the Oilers, captaining the team to four Stanley Cup triumphs. He was traded to Los Angeles in August 1988, ripping the heart out of Edmonton.
Oil Country was still coming to terms with the trade several months later when the Oilers skated out for Game 1 of the best-of-seven Smythe Division Semi-Final at the Great Western Forum. It was their first playoff game without Gretzky, and of course, it would come against The Great One, who was, of course, playing his first postseason contest wearing another jersey.
Kings forward Mike Krushelnyski, who was also dealt from Edmonton to Los Angeles as part of the prior summer’s trade, scored early in the third period to break a 2-2 tie, and it was looking like Gretzky’s L.A. playoff debut was going to be a successful one, until Esa Tikkanen tallied to pull the Oilers even with 3:54 remaining. Then just 67 seconds later, Craig Simpson scored the game-winner for Edmonton, spoiling the party in L.A.
Gretzky wasn’t a big factor in Game 1, finishing with no goals and one assist, but he would go on to play a huge role in the series, leading all players with 13 points as Los Angeles stormed back from down 3-1 to eliminate the Oilers in seven games. He had two goals and an assist in the Kings’ series-clinching victory.
Bringing Out the Brooms (April 24, 1990: Oilers 6 at Kings 5)
One year after becoming only the sixth team to blow a 3-1 lead in NHL playoff history, the Oilers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 1990 Smythe Division Final over the same L.A. team that had shocked them 12 months prior.
Determined not to give the Kings any life this time around, Edmonton got out to a 2-0 lead in the first period at Great Western Forum and was up 4-1 midway through the contest, before Los Angeles scored four times over 7:36 spanning the second and third periods to take a 5-4 lead.
With less than three minutes remaining in regulation, Tikkanen tied the game on a shot that bounced off the skate of Kings defenceman Marty McSorley (who was also shipped from Edmonton to Los Angeles as part of the Gretzky trade) and ricocheted off L.A. goalie Kelly Hrudey into the net. Overtime didn’t even last five minutes before Joe Murphy buried a rebound behind Hrudey at 4:42 to give Edmonton the 4-0 series sweep.
Related: Revisiting Wayne Gretzky’s Time with the LA Kings
Gretzky, who could only watch helplessly from the pressbox after being unable to suit up for the deciding game because of back issues, said of his former team, “I’ve never seen them play better” (from ‘As Hard as They Tried, It’s an Old Story’, The Los Angeles Times, 4/25/90).
The Great One knew what he was talking about: Edmonton went on that spring to win the Stanley Cup, its only championship without Gretzky.
The Oilers also eliminated the Kings from the Smythe Division Final in overtime the next year, this time in Game 6 at Northlands Coliseum when Craig MacTavish beat Hrudey at 16:57 of sudden death for a 4-2 series win.
The Seven-Finger Salute (May 12, 2022 – Oilers 4 at Kings 2)
Sometimes in sports, a gesture speaks thunderously louder than words: Jose Bautista’s bat flip in Toronto; Michael Jordan’s shrug in Chicago; and for fans of the Oilers, Evander Kane’s seven-finger salute in Los Angeles.
In the first round of the 2022 NHL Playoffs, Edmonton found itself on the ropes, trailing the Kings 3-2 in the best-of-seven series and facing elimination in Game 6 at Crypto.com Arena. The Oilers jumped ahead 2-0 early in the second period, but Los Angeles scored twice to even things up.
The teams remained tied until Tyson Barrie beat Kings goalie Jonathan Quick to give Edmonton the lead with just over five minutes remaining in the third period. Then with one minute left, Kane sealed the deal, firing the puck into an empty net for his second goal of the night. As he skated back to the bench, he held up seven fingers, letting Kings fans know that the series was going back to Edmonton for Game 7. It’s quickly become a moment in Oilers’ lore.
Of course, this all would be recalled much differently if the Oilers didn’t go on to win Game 7, which was quite the memorable affair in its own right: they prevailed 2-0 in a white-knuckle affair that was 1-0 until Connor McDavid’s goal late in the third period allowed the 18,000-plus at Rogers Place to exhale.
Tonight (April 17), McDavid, Kane, and the rest of the Oilers begin their quest for the 2023 Stanley Cup by hosting the Kings for Game 1 at Rogers Place. This series will surely bring more moments to remember; Edmonton hopes they’re a lot more like the Seven-Finger Salute than the Miracle on Manchester.
