In the final regular season meeting between these two teams on Monday, the Los Angeles Kings won the game 5-0 against a shorthanded Edmonton Oilers squad that didn’t dress Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid. The game was less about the result and more about bad blood boiling over — Edmonton totalled 53 penalty minutes and Darnell Nurse was handed a one-game suspension for a cross-check on Quinton Byfield. He’ll be back for Game 1, however.
Kings forward Phillip Danault accused the Oilers of icing a B squad that was trying to hurt the Kings. Corey Perry shot back in irritation at the suggestion.
Familiarity breeds contempt and by now these teams loathe each other. The divisional rivals played four times this season, twice already in April, and now face each other in the first round for the fourth year in a row.
While Edmonton has won each of the three previous series (in seven, then six, then five games), the Kings have every right to believe the situation is different this time and that they could slay their dragon. The first difference is that Los Angeles holds home ice advantage this time, finishing the season on a high note that separated them from the Oilers. There’s a sense this is the best, deepest Kings roster of these past four years and that they’re capable of taking down last year’s Western Conference champs.
“I feel like we have a really good team,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “We have more size, more experience and more depth. Let’s go play.”
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The Kings’ big injury scare happened before the season even began, with Drew Doughty going down to a fractured ankle that kept him out of the lineup until late January. When he returned, Los Angeles was ninth in the league by points percentage, whereas Edmonton was third. Since having Doughty back, however, the Kings are 21-9-3 and 13 points better than Edmonton.
Adding to Los Angeles’ confidence is that the Oilers arrive in this post-season banged up, choosing to rest a large number of their players in the final regular season games. On Monday came the bad news that Mattias Ekholm would miss the first round, at least, and possibly the entire playoffs, leaving a huge dent in the Oilers’ blue line.
But Connor McDavid insists his group is ready to roll, healthier than it seems, and ready to take on the challenge of returning to the Cup final for a second season in a row. But, still, the Kings outscored the Oilers 8-0 in two regulation wins this month.
So, who really has the momentum? The team that has won the past three post-season meetings in a row? Or the one arriving hotter and healthier in 2025?
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORDS
Edmonton Oilers: 1-2-1
Los Angeles Kings: 3-1-0
THE BREAKDOWN
Last season, there was a lot of discussion around the Kings’ “boring” style with a 1-3-1 system that made them one of the best defensive outfits in the league, finishing fifth in shots against per game and fourth in high-danger chances against. The first-round matchup against Edmonton was seen as an offence vs. defence set-up, so when the Oilers were able to score 22 goals over five games, the result was definitive.
This series again could be seen as an offence vs. defence battle. Los Angeles finished the regular season in an even better standing defensively: second in shots against per game, five-on-five high-danger chances against and goals against per game. The Kings’ penalty kill is also inside the top 10.
So excellent and consistent was Los Angeles’ team defence that it didn’t lose a game in regulation all season when scoring at least three goals. And it only lost two of those games in extra time — the last coming all the way back on Nov. 1.
Meantime, when Edmonton is healthy and at its best, there is no mistaking what the team’s identity is. With McDavid and Draisaitl at the centre, the Oilers are defined by their offensive excellence, though there is a little less shine on the group this season even though the two big stars had incredible campaigns once again.
Edmonton’s goals per game dropped by more than league average and it’s now just outside of the top 10 in offence, finishing 11th. The power play, historical in its success two years ago and still a great danger last season, also fell outside the top 10 in 2024-25.
The fact is, none of the Oilers’ off-season pickups ever got too hot. Jeff Skinner failed to hit 20 goals in an 82-game season for the first time since 2014-15. Viktor Arvidsson missed a number of games because of injury and was well off his career point pace. As Dylan Holloway, signed away in an offer sheet last summer, went on for a career season in St. Louis, Edmonton ultimately downgraded the depth scoring of its roster.
The Oilers come into this series with plenty of question marks. Evander Kane, who hasn’t played all season, is eager to get back in and show he can still contribute with offence or at least a physical edge. On Sunday, Stuart Skinner started his first game in a couple weeks after a head injury and looked good in a 4-1 win over Winnipeg, though wasn’t overly tested, with just 18 shots against. He has the worst goals saved above expected total (minus-2.8) of any starting netminder in these playoffs.
The Kings might be at the right place and at the right time to get back at the Oilers, though last year’s finalists have the superstar power Los Angeles just does not.
ADVANCED STATS
(5-on-5 totals from Natural Stat Trick)
REGULAR SEASON STATS
Oilers X-Factor: Evan Bouchard
Edmonton is going to have to move on without its top defensive defenceman, as Ekholm’s injury puts more pressure on the other blue-liners. In the crosshairs of attention surely will be Evan Bouchard, an excellent offensive contributor who scored 32 points in 25 playoff games last spring, more than any other blue-liner since Brian Leetch notched 34 playoff points in 1993-94.
The debate around Bouchard, however, is always: can he defend well enough? Ekholm was his security blanket this season, the responsible defensive complement to Bouchard’s all-out offence. Bouchard’s regular season was bumpy at times, though the offensive totals put him inside the top 10 at his position. While Nurse stands to gain the most minutes and responsibility from Ekholm’s absence, the pressure will be more on Bouchard to meet the high expectations set by last year’s post-season performance. He has to both continue pushing the offence while also being aware that his partner won’t be able to do all the things Ekholm thrives at.
Kings X-Factor: Darcy Kuemper
Although Los Angeles was a defensively stout team last season and remains so in 2025, this series could ultimately come down to their goalie’s ability to hold off Edmonton’s waves of attacks. Cam Talbot had a great season for the Kings in 2023-24 — .913 save percentage, 2.48 GAA — but in three playoff starts he collapsed to an .861 save percentage and 5.30 GAA. Backup David Rittich had to replace him the final two games, and the Kings didn’t stand a chance.
This year’s starter, Darcy Kuemper, is a Stanley Cup winner and finished sixth in the league by goals saved above expected. He finished third in the league in save percentage, tied for third in shutouts and tied for first in GAA. After a couple of statistically down seasons in Washington, Kuemper is back to posting similar (often better) numbers than he did when he won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022. For as good as the Kings’ team defence is, inevitably their chance of knocking off the Oilers will come down to Kuemper’s ability to hold off the superstars coming at him and fare better than Talbot did a year ago.
