The Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers are set to face off on Monday night in what will be a preview of the first round of the NHL Playoffs. On Saturday, the Vegas Golden Knights secured the Pacific Division and based on how the NHL does their seeding, the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers are now locked in to face each other in the first round.
This will be the fourth straight season that the two teams have met and unfortunately for the Kings this is the team that has ended their season in each of the previous three meetings. The challenge for the Kings is that the series have become less competitive as the years have gone on.
During the 2022 NHL Playoffs, the Kings and Oilers would go to a Game 7 but the Oilers would shut out Los Angeles and win by a final score of 2-0. The following year, the series would go six games and the Kings had a 2-1 lead after a 3-2 win in overtime in Game 3. However, the Oilers would win the final three games of the series, including a 5-4 victory in Game 6.
The last time these teams met it wasn't really that close as the Oilers would only need five games to win the series. They would have wins of 7-4 in Game 1 and 6-1 in Game 3 that really set the tone for the series.
LA Kings have a chance to secure home-ice advantage in the first round
One of the big potential differences this season compared to their previous meetings is that the Los Angeles Kings could have home ice. Right now the magic number stands at two and that could mean either the Oilers losing to the Jets on Sunday or the Kings winning against the Oilers on Monday would be enough to get home ice.
This means that not only would four games be at home, if the series goes seven games, but the Kings and Oilers would meet in Los Angeles for the first two games of the season.
If the Los Angeles Kings can get out to a 2-0 lead to open the series, that could give them just enough momentum to get past Edmonton and onto the second round for the first time since the 2014-15 season.