5 things to watch for in Edmonton Oilers vs Los Angeles Kings series

For the second year in a row, the Edmonton Oilers are going to be facing the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Last year, the Oilers came out of a very tight series and ended up going all the way to the Western Conference Finals before being defeated by the Colorado Avalanche.

This year, both teams are hoping to come out of this series so that they can win a wide-open West in the series matchups that will follow.

This is a series that will feature all sorts of skills, which will make it an incredibly entertaining series for people to watch. These are the five things that everyone should be watching for in this series between these two great Pacific Division teams:

1. Another playoff series with Kopitar and Doughty

The Edmonton Oilers will have to defend against some Los Angeles Kings stars.

For a long time, Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar have dominated the National Hockey League. These two have been a big part of a great core with Los Angeles for over a decade now and have had tons of success that include two Stanley Cup championships.

Kopitar is the two-way centerman that is amongst the best year in and year out. He is right behind guys like Patrice Bergeron and Jonathan Toews as the best in that role over the last decade or more.

Doughty is a defenseman that was one of the best in the league for a long time. He might not be the guy he was a few years ago, but he is still an incredibly impactful player. The same can be said about Kopitar as well.

We are so lucky to be watching these guys in the playoffs again. If the Kings are going to have a chance in this series, these two are going to have to be at their best both offensively and defensively, as we know what Edmonton is about to throw at them.

2. Connor McDavid

Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid is coming for the Los Angeles Kings.

Connor McDavid is the best player in the National Hockey League, and he might be the best player who ever lived. He is coming off a year that we haven’t seen the likes of in decades. He had 153 points to become just one of a handful of people to break the 150-point plateau.

In this series vs the Los Angeles Kings, his play is going to be heavily monitored. The Los Angeles Kings are going to do their best. They know they can’t stop him, but they can try and contain him. The aforementioned Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar, amongst others, are going to have their hands full.

McDavid had a career year, which is saying something for a guy with as many points in his career as he has. All eyes are going to be on him when he steps on the ice because he is the most spectacular player in the game right now. Appointment television is an understatement.

In the 2022 postseason, McDavid took a big step in his career as he performed even better in the postseason and made a deep run. That makes everyone wonder what is going to be his encore this year. He is the most important player on either team, and it isn’t close, so keep an eye on him.

3. Power Play

The power plays are going to impact the Edmonton Oilers vs Los Angeles Kings.

The Los Angeles Kings have a top-five power play. They clicked at 25.3 percent, which was the fourth-best mark in the NHL. Scoring a power play goal one out of every four tries is outstanding in this league and is something for people to watch for in this series.

The Edmonton Oilers also only killed penalties at 77.0 percent, which isn’t all that good as it was only the 20th-best in the league. You’d think that the Kings score some power-play goals in this series, which is notable coming in.

That said, the Edmonton Oilers are laughing. They had the number one power play in the league this year as they clicked at 32.4 percent. That is one of the best marks in the history of the league for a season. The second place Toronto Maple Leafs clicked at 26.0 percent, so the gap was large.

Los Angeles also had a bad penalty kill as their 75.8 percent was only good for 24th in the league. It will be interesting to see how this fact impacts the series as the Oilers are going to score loads of goals with the man advantage. Clearly, special teams could decide the series.

5. Goaltending

Goaltending could be the key for the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings.

Goaltending in any series is something to keep an eye on. The goalie is amongst the most important positions in any sport, especially during the playoffs. Without it, you go nowhere.

We already touched on Edmonton’s goaltending when discussing their depth. Stuart Skinner and Jack Campbell are hoping that they can get it done when called upon in the big games. As mentioned before, Skinner is going to be the guy.

As for the Los Angeles Kings, they made a big move this season. They traded franchise icon Jonathan Quick to the Columbus Blue Jackets as a part of the deal that landed them Vladislav Gavrikov who was one of the top three or four players on the market this year.

There were some other things that went into the deal, and Joonas Korpisalo was one of them, which ended up being such a good deal for the Kings. In addition to adding a good player like Gavrikov, they added a goaltender that has been winning so much for them.

He has become the starting goaltender there, which has helped them maintain playoff positioning down the stretch. Phoenix Copley is also a guy that they use in that position, but Korpisalo is likely to be their guy when the series begins.

No team has a distinct edge in the goaltending department, so it is all about who steps up bigger for their team when they need it the most. That makes it a huge story in the series because we don’t know who is going to come out on top.