The Edmonton Oilers have seemingly weathered the storm and appear to be past their darkest hours in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, instead, Connor McDavid and company have now shifted the pressure onto the Los Angeles Kings who are one loss away from witnessing the end of their 2024-25 NHL season. As the Kings have their heads between a rock and a hard place, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch dropped a bold statement about the team’s star-studded lineup.
Edmonton finally walked away victorious in Los Angeles, notching their first road win of the Stanley Cup Playoffs—and their first victory in the City of Angels all season, having previously lost every regular-season game there, including visits to the Anaheim Ducks on the outskirts of L.A.
It was a crucial victory, not only to snap their losing skid in La-la-land, but to take a commanding 3-2 lead, as the series shifts back to Alberta, where the Oilers will hope to seal the deal, punching their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs second round.
It’s been a strange series—one that’s left a bitter taste in Los Angeles. The Kings appeared to be in control for large stretches of the games, but Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have shown that no lead is ever safe when they’re on the ice. The Kings have had no answers for the dynamic duo, and now find their heads at the edge of the guillotine.
“We don’t have to worry about matchups we can just roll our lines,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch stated during his postgame press conference. “There’s no line that we’re hiding, we can have our fourth line play against the other team’s top line. We feel very confident about that.“
No need to cover the Sun with a hand
Of course, McDavid and Draisaitl are to be expected on the ice during the most crucial moments of every game, but Knoblauch’s confidence in his team’s depth isn’t wavering, especially not after overall solid performances like Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
“Obviously we’re going to put Leon [Draisaitl] and Connor [McDavid] out for special shifts in the offensive zone, but everybody was ready to bring their A-game, and most of them did,” Knoblauch added.
Fourth time, no charm?
As the Kings and Oilers clash in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth time in as many consecutive NHL seasons, it seems the franchise in sunny California has yet to figure out their counterparts from tundric Alberta.
The Oilers have knocked the Kings out of the postseason each time they met in the last four seasons, helping extend the disastrous postseason skid in LA. The Monarchs in The City of Angels haven’t won a playoff series since the 2013-14 season, when they hoisted the Stanley Cup.
SURVEY If the Oilers fail to win the Stanley Cup, how would you rate their 2024-25 NHL season?
If the Oilers fail to win the Stanley Cup, how would you rate their 2024-25 NHL season?
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If the Kings lose to the Oilers, it will become their 11th straight season without a playoff series victory. Whereas the Oilers would extend their streak to four straight postseasons with at least one playoff series win. However, that’s far from the real goal in Edmonton, as the franchise hopes to hoist its sixth Stanley Cup, and first since 1990.