Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs preview

We’re finally here folks, the most exciting time of the year, apart from Christmas or my birthday (March 26, mark it on your calendars, I’m terribly partial to periwinkle blue). This time of year is as good of a gift as any though: playoff hockey. It’s a different beast entirely, other sports are but a candle to the roaring flame that is NHL playoffs. In no other sport is a player’s raw desire to win so intensely evident, in no other sport can that desire make such a difference to the outcome of the game.

The Edmonton Oilers will need to employ any and all aggression come this evening when they walk into Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. For the fourth year in a row the Oilers will face the Kings. Each year has appeared to get easier and easier, winning in seven games three years ago, six games two years ago, and five games last year. As satisfying as it would be if that pattern were completed you won’t catch me betting on the Oilers in four and I’ll tell you why.

The Oilers and the Kings stats

The Oilers will have a tough test in the first round, the good news is that if they can make it through to the second round the galvanizing first round may put them on a path to a deep run. Here are the facts:

The Kings are the best team in the league at home, winning 66 of their 105 points at home and posting an astounding 31–6–4 home record. Having home ice for this series is a huge advantage.

The silver lining is that the Oilers are the seventh best away team in the league, and the Kings are actually under .500 away from home.

Looking at a wide range of stats, the Oilers are not even close to as dominant as they were last year. In xGF% and Corsi the two are neck and neck. Edmonton leads in power play%, but L.A. has a heavy lead in Goal Differential, SH%, Sv%, and penalty kill%. Last year Edmonton led in the all those stats except Sv% and penalty kill%. I won’t say that this is a guaranteed win for the Kings, but I’d bet my antique fine china collection that if Edmonton wins, it’ll be in six or more games.

The good news for the Oilers is that they will be closer to a complete team than they have been for a month. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Hyman, Stuart Skinner, and Jake Walman are set to start Game 1. Due to all the injuries, especially to McDavid and Draisaitl, the Oilers haven’t really seemed like themselves (though they’ve actually played pretty well) and this is adding to the feeling that Edmonton will have a hard time handling L.A. The return of McDavid and Draisaitl in concert with the knowledge that Edmonton has defeated the Kings each of the past three years should help bring Oiler’s players and fans heart rate’s to a healthier tempo.

Oilers path to the cup

Unfortunately, if the Oilers can beat the Kings, their path doesn’t get any easier. Just assuming that every other playoff series is decided by regular season standings the Oilers would see Vegas in the second round, Winnipeg in the third, and Washington in the Stanley Cup Final. Juggernauts like Dallas, Colorado, Carolina, Toronto, Tampa Bay, and a rematch with Florida are also extremely frightening possibilities.

Now every edition of the playoffs is difficult, that’s just stating the obvious, the problem this year is that the Oilers and especially their starter Stuart Skinner have not performed very well against the best teams in the league. Against the teams listed above, not including the Kings, the Oilers are 8–14–1 this season.

No matter how things play out, the Oilers have a two month slog through the mud ahead of them. The good news is that hockey games are NOT decided stats, nor even by regular season performance. The 2012 L.A. Kings were the last team in the west to make the playoffs. They defeated the first, second, and third seeds in the west on their way to their Stanley Cup victory.

Here’s hoping that the Kings don’t repeat that performance this year.