The Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings met again last night in Crypto.com Arena for the fourth time this season. Their regular season series came to a close with a 3-1 loss for the Kings. As it sits right now, the Oilers and the Kings could end up meeting in the playoffs barring some crazy circumstances happening over the next couple of weeks.
November 16, 2022: LAK 3, EDM 1
November 16, 2022, was the first time these two teams shared the ice and it could otherwise be known as the “Trevor Moore Show.” Trevor Moore potted all three of the Kings’ goals in that game, which was good enough to capture the 3-1 win. Zach Hyman was the only Oiler to get one past Cal Petersen, giving the Kings a 1-0 series lead for the season.
January 9, 2023: LAK 6, EDM 3
January 9, 2023, was the second time these two teams shared the ice, this time in Los Angeles. And the Kings won a high-scoring game, 6-3. Kings’ forward Kevin Fiala shined in the first period with two goals, Adrian Kempe shined in the second period with two goals, and Viktor Arvidsson and Alex Iafallo capped off the third period with two more goals.
Oilers’ forward Kailer Yamamoto got one past Pheonix Copley in the first period, followed by Ryan McLeod in the second period. Connor McDavid’s goal in the third was not enough to lift Edmonton over Los Angeles.
But, these two losses for the Oilers must have motivated them to come back with a vengeance against the Kings because, in the two games these two teams played post-All-Star break, the Oilers won both of them.
March 30, 2023: EDM 2, LAK 0
March 30, 2023, was the third matchup between the two divisional rivals and the Oilers shut out the Kings 2-0 on home ice. Connor McDavid scored his 300th career goal in this game and Oilers’ forward Evander Kane joined in on the fun with a goal to lift Edmonton over Los Angeles.
The Kings could not solve Stuart Skinner as he had 35 even-strength saves, seven power-play saves, and even one short-handed save giving him a 1.000 save percentage.
April 4, 2023: EDM 3, LAK 1
In unusual circumstances, Connor McDavid did not record a goal, but Leon Draisaitl came to his rescue. Arguably the second-best player in the world, Draisaitl recorded three points last night: one goal and two assists.
Viktor Arvidsson was the only King who put one in the back of the net, as the Kings again had a hard time solving Stuart Skinner. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Darnell Nurse were the other two Oilers to record a goal, capping off a perfect regular season series split between the Kings and the Oilers.
Stanley Cup Playoffs Preview
If the season ended today, the Los Angeles Kings and the Edmonton Oilers would share the ice again in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, a rematch of last year’s opening round of the postseason. Joonas Korpisalo and Pheonix Copley have been great all year, but it appears that the Kings should worry about how Stuart Skinner has been playing for the Oilers.
One positive is that in a potential seven-game series, Edmonton will most likely not play Stuart Skinner in all of those games, so if the Kings can capitalize on the times Jack Campbell is in net and find a way to solve Skinner, then that could be a good recipe to beat the Oilers.
Also, the Kings have been without Gabe Vilardi since before the Kings played the Oilers at the end of March. Joining him on the sidelines last night were defenseman Alex Edler, Kevin Fiala, and Mikey Anderson.
Mikey Anderson suffered an injury from a hit by Connor McDavid in the March 30th matchup between the two teams which created a bit of controversy between the two teams.
connor mcdavid takes a two-minute minor for boarding mikey anderson 1:28 into the game. pic.twitter.com/X2pb1ukbyy
— zach (@zjlaing) March 31, 2023
But, according to PuckPedia, Alex Edler, Kevin Fiala, Gabriel Vilardi, and Mikey Anderson are expected to be back to play on Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
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