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The Los Angeles Kings are staring down the barrel of a fourth consecutive meeting with the Edmonton Oilers in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The two Pacific Division rivals first met in the 2020s back in 2021-22, which ended up being a hard-fought seven-game series. The Oilers got the better of the Kings in a winner-take-all Game 7 before losing to the eventual champion Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.
But every season, Edmonton has seemed to have an easier and easier time beating Los Angeles in the postseason. In 2022-23, it took the Oil just six games to knock out the Kings for a second consecutive campaign. And in last year's playoffs, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl feasted, helping to complete the Round 1 threepeat in just five games.
Although the Oilers would go on to lose in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers, the opening round against the Kings was undoubtedly not only their easiest series of the 2024 postseason, but also the most convincing win of the three consecutive meetings between the two franchises.
Fast forward to 2024-25 and the Vegas Golden Knights, who have won six games in a row, look well-positioned to win the division. The Kings and Oilers have each played 73 games, and LA (91 points) currently has a two-point cushion on Edmonton (89 points), with each team having nine tilts left in the regular-season. The Knights are well ahead with 98 points through 73 games.
So what's it going to take for the Kings to come out of the first-round for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup in 2014? First, let's discuss their strengths.
Kings boast one of league's best goaltenders and a stingy defensive unit
The number one thing the Kings have going for them is a stud between the pipes in Darcy Kuemper. He has been excellent in 2024-25 and absolutely lights out as of late, winning seven of his last nine starts, including back-to-back shutouts over the Washington Capitals and Nashville Predators, respectively, in the middle of March.
Kuemper already won a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022, and he knows what it takes to win. He's been a revelation in California since being traded for Pierre-Luc Dubois in the offseason, and he's the biggest X-factor the Kings have — and something they sorely lacked — in each of the last three meeting with the Oilers.
Kuemper's 2.10 goals-against average is second to only Hart Trophy contender Connor Hellebuyck, who is on a different level for the Winnipeg Jets this year. And Kuemper's .919 save percentage is good for third league-wide. He should be a Vezina Trophy finalist in 2024-25 and is arguably Los Angeles' most important player.
Along with a strong defensive unit led by a fully healthy Drew Doughty, the Kings allow just 2.51 goals per game this season. That's better than any other National Hockey League team except the Jets (2.32 goals against/game), and the stingy blue line is one of the key reasons LA is an excellent 41-23-9 this year.
Los Angeles' defense will be tested by Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl
Of course, the Kings' defensive mettle is going to be tested by two of the best players in the game in McDavid and Draisaitl. Although the former is currently injured, he's expected to be back before the end of the regular-season. And the latter, after missing four games, wasted no time in his return to action, scoring goals No. 50 and 51 as the Oilers beat the Calgary Flames 3-2 in overtime on Saturday night.
It's been a tough stretch for the Oilers, who have played multiple games without McDavid and Draisaitl and now are also missing starting goaltender Stuart Skinner. It doesn't help that key defenseman Mattias Ekholm and trade deadline acquisition Trent Frederic remain out of the lineup as well.
All of those things considered, the Kings look like they have a fighting chance to exorcise the demons in Round 1, and that will be especially true if they can win the last regular-season meeting between the two clubs next Saturday. Getting home-ice advantage — and more time spent at Crypto.com Arena — could go a long way in knocking out the defending Western Conference champions.
But the most concerning thing going into the playoffs, and something that absolutely needs to improve if the Kings hope to make a deep run, is the abysmal powerplay.
Kings' fatal flaw is an awful powerplay
Despite being around the middle of the pack in goals scored — Los Angeles is averaging 2.93 goals per game, good for 18th in the NHL — the PP unit is really lagging behind. And that's hard to understand considering the unit features Doughty, as well as a few proven stars in Anze Kopitar, Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Kings' conversion percentage with the man advantage is a truly awful 16.7 percent — worse than any other team except four non-playoff clubs in the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders and Anaheim Ducks. For context, in 2023-24, that number was 22.6 percent. In 2022-23, it was the NHL's fourth-best unit at 25.3 percent.
It's hard to pinpoint exactly why the unit is so bad this time around, but it doesn't help that Kopitar had managed just four points in eight games before recording three assists in an 8-1 shellacking of the lowly San Jose Sharks on Sunday. Both Kempe and Fiala have hovered around a point-per-game pace in each of the last two campaigns, and both have struggled a bit overall this year. Kempe has 60 points in 73 games; Fiala, just 50 in 72.
There's no quick fix here, and the Kings are continuing to win games despite one of their worst powerplays in recent memory. But that is just not going to cut it in the playoffs. Even with multiple injuries, the Oilers still have the league's eighth best PP at 25.3 percent. Without a doubt, Los Angeles' fatal flaw entering the postseason is special teams, and if it doesn't improve, it will almost certainly be a fourth consecutive Round 1 loss.
The Kings and Oilers have been neck-in-neck in 2024-25, and that shouldn't change in the playoffs. But if LA can't score with the man advantage, it could be another long offseason in California after a really encouraging regular-season.
