Due to the playoff format, the Los Angeles Kings seemingly always find their way to playing the Edmonton Oilers in the first round. The past four seasons, the Kings and Oilers have been some combination of second and third in the Pacific Division, with this past season being the first that the Kings were second and had home ice advantage.
However, this season the Kings came very close to winning the Pacific Division as they tied a franchise record with 105 points. They only finished five points back of the Vegas Golden Knights and were challenging them for that top spot almost all season.
When looking back on the season, there were more than a few games the Kings wish they had back and with a different outcome, it would have been the Kings winning the division. The question now is what might have happened if that were the case.
What if the Los Angeles Kings won the Pacific Division?
The biggest thing is that the Kings would have avoided the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs. Instead of Edmonton, the Kings would have played one of the Wild Card teams and that would have been the Minnesota Wild.
This past season, the two teams met three times, and Los Angeles won two of those meetings. While it isn't guaranteed, let's assume that trend continues and in a seven-game series, the Kings would be advancing to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
However, it would have still resulted in a meeting with the Edmonton Oilers because the Golden Knights and Oilers second round meeting would have happened a round earlier. This past season, the Oilers would advance past the Golden Knights in five games in a series that wasn't relatively close.
It would have been interesting to see if the Kings would have had more success against Edmonton in the second round. There is probably no question that the previous three first-round meetings were in the back of the minds of Los Angeles. As Edmonton got momentum against the Kings, it showed and Los Angeles started playing tight.
Does that change with the two teams meeting in the second round? Possibly. In that scenario, the Kings might have had a clear path to their third Stanley Cup Final appearance in franchise history. A different playoff format or the Kings' winning the Pacific Division could have made a huge difference this past season.