Hockey Royalty Staff Picks for LA Kings vs Edmonton Oilers Part 3

As the great Yogi Berra once said, “It’s deja vu all over again.” For the third season in a row, the LA Kings will meet the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Maybe the third time will be the charm for Los Angeles?

Once again, the Hockey Royalty staff is here to offer you their takes on the series, let’s dive in. We’ll start with the Captain of Hockey Royalty, Russell Morgan.

Russell Morgan

Joe Patarino

I’m really trying to find ways to be optimistic about the third part in what is hopefully only a first-round trilogy with the Edmonton Oilers, but it isn’t easy. Here’s a combined snapshot of some 5-on-5 numbers from Natural Stat Trick from the previous two playoff series in which Edmonton beat the Kings in seven and six games respectively:

We won’t even get into the special teams because that was even uglier.

The somewhat scary part is LA had decent goaltending the past two years, compiling nearly a .920 save percentage at 5-on-5.

Are the Kings better suited to win this time around? The forward depth is certainly improved. They played Edmonton last season without a third-line center and were badly beaten by the Oilers’ depth. While it hasn’t been a good debut season for Pierre-Luc Dubois, he’ll offer more than what was available last season in that position.

The Kings are also healthier than they’ve ever been. That could be the biggest thing Kings’ fans can hang their hat on is that they were absent some significant players the last two seasons.

The pessimistic view is far clearer. The Oilers are a better team than the Kings in pretty much all facets of the game. LA has seen their underlying metrics dip under Jim Hiller and their league-leading penalty kill for most of the season has been just above league average since March 1st.

Edmonton is also a deeper team than they were in the past. Their top defense pair is among the best in the NHL and while I don’t have a lot of confidence in Darnell Nurse or Cody Ceci, the improvement Vincent Desharnais has made this season coupled with the underrated Brett Kulak on the third pair offers a potential mismatch against LA’s blueline. Not to mention Stuart Skinner in goal, who is 5th in the NHL in GSAx (per EvolvingHockey) since January 1st.

Rob Blake built this team to win in the playoffs. He built this team to beat Edmonton. In doing so, he tripled down this offseason on a defense corps that cannot move the puck efficiently out of their own zone, and given how much time they’ll spend there in this series, I don’t see how that will work.

Prediction: Oilers in 5.

Kyle Garcia

The Trilogy of the LA Kings vs Oilers is upon us. They just can’t escape one another. The big changes for both sides this season have been behind the bench. The Oilers have been one of the best teams since Kris Knoblauch took over after Jay Woodcroft got the pink slip after 13 games, while Jim Hiller helped keep afloat a sinking LA ship since February 10th. Even with the changes behind the two benches, the familiarity is still there. This is the first time the Kings enter a playoff series against the Oilers healthy with their full squad. So, that gives reason for optimism and belief. 

The advantage the Oilers have is in their top six, but I think the Kings’ bottom six is slightly better than Edmonton’s (remember, no Nick Bjugstad, Klim Kostin, or Kailer Yamamoto for Edmonton this year). For me, this series will come down to special teams and the bottom six. The Kings’ penalty kill turnaround will be put to the test, which has hit a bump in the road toward the end of the season, against the firepower of the Oilers’ power play, and I think the Kings will get good contributions from their bottom six players, which should get a boost with Carl Grundstrom‘s return to the lineup.

However, my concern is that the Kings have struggled offensively at times in their final 12 games and haven’t played good hockey consistently in that stretch, which causes concern for me.

I give the Kings a chance to win the series and I wouldn’t be surprised if they win, but I think the Oilers’ top players and their scoring will be too much to handle for LA.

Prediction: Oilers in 6

Carson McNitt

I have the LA Kings knocking off the Edmonton Oilers. The biggest reason is that LA is finally healthy enough and the forward depth is the key.

What needs to happen is the Kings have to open up offensively and just let their dynamic players like Kevin Fiala, Quinton Byfield, and Adrian Kempe do what they do best. Edmonton isn’t strong on the back end and LA has to take advantage of that. The speed of Byfield, Fiala, and Kempe can – and should – put Edmonton in situations where the Kings can take advantage.

Now, trying to contain the Oilers’ high-powered offense is a difficult task. LA needs to play smart hockey and not give the Oilers any gift power plays. The best matchup to contain Connor McDavid is the “Nice Line” of, Trevor Moore, Phillip Danault, and Viktor Arvidsson. They can contain McDavid by being physical and just being in his way. The Oilers get frustrated when teams don’t give them separation and the Kings should make this a priority.

Goaltending is the wild card in the series. Stuart Skinner struggled in the series last year and has confidence issues where you get a fluke goal on him it affects his game the rest of the way. The Kings need Cam Talbot to be at his best. He’s had moments of brilliance and there are moments when he doesn’t have it where it looks like he’s fighting the puck. Kings need Talbot to be the goalie he was in the first half of the season.

Prediction: Kings in 6.

Jason Werngreen

Starting with a series prediction, I’ve got your LA Kings closing the series in Edmonton’s barn…in five games. Looking at the past two playoffs the Kings haven’t been fully healthy in either matchup. Not only are the Kings finally healthy, but if Jim Hiller keeps Fiala-Dubois-Byfield together come round one as he did in game 82 against Chicago, then the Kings will finally have a line that can match up with the Oilers track meet style of play.

The Kings have been inconsistent at best this season, however, through the four matchups with Edmonton, they went 1-2-1 while keeping each game relatively close. The Kings’ depth down the middle, though underwhelming, was built to compete with Edmonton. I’m sure Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will have their games and do their thing like they do every year, however, I think the Kings turn this rivalry on its head this playoffs.

Prediction: Kings in 5.