The Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers meet Saturday in game 7 of the West First Round NHL Playoffs at the Rogers Place. The Los Angeles Kings look to make the second round for the first time since 2013-14, when they won the Cup. The Edmonton Oilers look to make the second round for the first time since 2016-17.
The Los Angeles Kings are averaging 2.83 goals per game and are scoring on 12.5 percent of their power play opportunities. Phillip Danault leads Los Angeles with 3 goals, Adrian Kempe has 4 assists and Anze Kopitar has 24 shots on goal. Defensively, the Los Angeles Kings are allowing 4.17 goals per game and are killing 61.1 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Jonathan Quick has given up 20 goals on 187 shots faced, and Cal Petersen has given up 4 goals on 20 shots.
The Edmonton Oilers are averaging 4.17 goals per game and are scoring on 38.9 percent of their power play opportunities. Evander Kane leads Edmonton with 7 goals, Connor McDavid has 9 assists and Zach Hyman has 19 shots on goal. Defensively, the Edmonton Oilers are allowing 2.83 goals per game and are killing 87.5 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Mike Smith has allowed 16 goals on 231 shots faced.
The Kings are 3-8 in their last 11 games as an underdog and 8-3 in their last 11 overall. The Oilers are 19-7 in their last 26 home games and 16-6 in their last 22 overall. The under is 2-0-2 in Kings last 4 Saturday games. The over is 16-5 in Oilers last 21 home games. The Kings are 4-10 in the last 14 meetings in Edmonton. The favorite is 37-15 in the last 52 meetings.
The Edmonton Oilers are the better, more talented team, and they’re at home, where they’ve had great success all season long. The Oilers should be favored and should win. However, it’s important to note that the road team has won seven of the last 10 games between these teams. We also can’t ignore that Jonathan Quick has been improved in net recently, and he is an experienced, two time Cup winner who should rise to the occasion of a pressurized match. This matchup is probably closer than the odds indicate. There’s some value here with the Kings and plus money. I’ll take a shot.