Edmonton Oilers: 2nd in Pacific Division, 109 points
Los Angeles Kings: 3rd in Pacific Division, 104 points
Schedule (ET)
- Monday, April 17: Los Angeles at Edmonton, 10:00 p.m.
- Wednesday, April 19: Los Angeles at Edmonton, 10:00 p.m.
- Friday, April 21: Edmonton at Los Angeles, 10:00 p.m.
- Sunday, April 23: Edmonton at Los Angeles, 9:00 p.m.
- *Tuesday, April 25: Los Angeles at Edmonton, TBA
- *Saturday, April 29: Edmonton at Los Angeles, TBA
- *Monday, May 1: Los Angeles at Edmonton, TBA
*If necessary
The Skinny
Ho-hum, just another series between the Oilers and Kings. These two teams have serious playoff bad blood dating back decades and are coming off an underrated seven-game quarterfinal series just last year. The Kings gave the Oilers all they could handle before falling by a 2–0 score in Game 7 at Rogers Place.
The Wayne Gretzky trade. The Miracle on Manchester. Countless battles at Northlands Coliseum and the Great Western Forum. These two franchises (and their fanbases) know each other extremely well by now. And what better way to kick off the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs than with the NHL’s best player taking on Hollywood once again? Like all good sequels, this one could very well be bigger and better than the last.
Head to Head
Edmonton: 2-2-0
Los Angeles: 2-2-0
It was very much a tale of two seasons for the Oilers, and that’s reflected in their season series against the Kings. After going 21–17–3 in the first 41 games of the 2022–23 campaign, the Oilers flipped a switch and posted a blistering 29–6–6 record down the stretch.
The Kings defeated the Oilers 3–1 at Rogers Place on Nov. 16 before prevailing 6–3 in L.A. on Jan. 9 in what was Edmonton’s 42nd game of the regular season (the Oilers only lost five times in regulation thereafter). Likewise, the Oilers skated to a 2–0 win over the Kings in Edmonton on March 30 and a 3–1 victory at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on April 4, with both included in the Oilers’ season-ending nine-game winning streak.