The Los Angeles Kings are not only going to the playoffs for the fourth straight season but they will be playing the Edmonton Oilers once again. The past three seasons, the Oilers have ended the Kings season and as the years have gone on the series has gotten progressively worse for Los Angeles.
In their first meeting, during the 2021-22 season the Kings and Oilers would go seven games but then it was only six games the year after that. This past season, the Oilers would win four of the five games.
Even with the recent history, the LA Kings have to feel confident going into this series with the Oilers. The team has changed enough from previous years as Jim Hiller is the head coach and has now had a full season in the role after taking over midway through last season. They also have some new players in Darcy Kuemper, Warren Foegele, and Andrei Kuzmenko that could be enough to get Los Angeles over the hump.
While this is not the same team, these are four things that the Los Angeles Kings can learn from the previous series that they need to improve to finally advance to the second round.
Los Angeles Kings need to contain Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl
Let's start with the obvious, and the one that is easier said than done, and that is to contain Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Both players have once again had excellent regular seasons as Draisaitl leads the NHL in goals with 52, including a league-leading 11 game-winning goals, and has 106 points.
Meanwhile, Connor McDavid was slowed by an injury late in the season that kept him off the ice but he still finished with 26 goals and team-leading 71 assists.
In the previous three series with the Oilers, these two players have been able to take games over as they have combined for 25 goals in only 18 playoff games. While these are not the only two players they need to be concerned about with also players like Evan Bounchard, Trent Frederic and Zach Hyman, these are the two players that make the Oilers go.