April 19, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg

Things tend to happen in threes. That is holding true for the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings. The Pacific Division rivals are set to clash in the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive season.

The Oilers arrive as the second seed in the Pacific Division with a record of 49-27-6. This marks the fifth consecutive season that the Oilers have finished second in their division, but this is the third season since the COVID shortened 2020-21 season where the Oilers finished second in the all-Canadian Division.

Related: Oilers Clinch Playoff Spot in Historic Fashion

That’s an incredible feat considering the Oilers started the season with a 3-9-1 record before the team fired Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson. New head coach Kris Knoblauch finished his rookie campaign with a 46-18-5 record, which was the best mark in the league in that time frame. The Oilers tied an all-time record by overcoming a ten point deficit on a playoff spot on American Thanksgiving to earn a playoff spot. They didn’t just earn a playoff spot. They got home ice advantage in the first round.

A historic sixteen-game winning streak, which was tied for the second longest winning streak of all-time, propelled the Oilers to the second seed in the division. The other eight game winning streak they had helped out with that as well.

If things really do come in threes, then the Oilers will feel pretty comfortable about beating the Kings in the first round for the third consecutive season. That would allow the Oilers another extended playoff run. 

The leadership group of the Oilers feel that it’s a “Cup or bust” season for their team, and they hope that the third time’s the charm for them this spring. They beat the Kings en route to a Western Conference Finals berth in 2022, but were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. Last season, the Oilers beat the Kings and then lost a hard fought series against the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights after leading in every single one of the six games. This time, the Oilers are hoping that they will be the eventual Stanley Cup champions.

Leon Draisaitl was particularly upset after being eliminated last season. Draisaitl only has one more year left on his contract after this one. Connor McDavid only has two more years on his contract. They understand that they are in a prime winning window, and they’re running out of chances with this group as it’s currently constructed. The urgency is obviously high in the Oilers dressing room.

If the third time’s the charm, then this might be the year that the Kings finally beat the Oilers in the first round though. The Oilers’ sixteen-game winning streak ended with their first game after the All-Star break. They finished the season with a 20-12-5 record after the All-Star break, which equates to a 0.608 points percentage. That’s a significant drop off from the first 32 games of Knoblauch’s tenure before the All-Star break, where the team’s record was 26-6 (0.813 points percentage).

The Kings made a coaching change of their own at the All-Star break, firing Todd McLellan and promoting Jim Hiller. The Kings had a record of 23-15-10 heading into the All-Star break (0.583 points percentage), which was particularly awful given the fact that sixteen of those wins came on or before December 7, 2023. They won their first eleven road games of the season, which is a league record. Three measly wins from December 28, 2023 until the All-Star break (3-8-6) ultimately cost McLellan his job.

Hiller’s first game as head coach was a 4-0 win over the Oilers on February 10, 2024. The Kings finished with a 21-12-1 record (0.632 points percentage) after the coaching change and the All-Star break, a better mark than the Oilers achieved after their break (albeit not by a significant margin).

The Kings are healthy right now, which is something they have not been able to say heading into the previous two playoff encounters with the Oilers. Meanwhile, Connor McDavid missed four of the team’s final six regular season games (although all of the Oilers’ best players were rested in the last game). McDavid had a nagging issue flare up on him late in a 4-2 win against the Calgary Flames on April 6. He also missed a couple of games with an unknown upper body injury early in the season. I’m not saying these injuries are connected. I’m just pointing out facts.

Evander Kane missed the team’s final four games of the season for maintenance. Kane had previously missed a game on December 30, 2023 with a groin issue. Jason Gregor said that Kane had been dealing with nagging injuries during a media scrum on January 18, 2024. Once again, I’m just pointing out facts. You can draw your own conclusions.

The Kings have also won six of their last eight games, whereas the Oilers have only won four of their last eight games. I don’t put much stock into the final two games of the Oilers’ regular season because of the circumstances. Six games in nine nights. Being the road opponent in the Arizona Coyotes’ farewell game. Resting the stars against a fully loaded Colorado Avalanche team. However, the numbers are what they are. The Kings enter the series on more of a roll than the Oilers.

So, which old theory will hold true? Do things come in threes, or is the third time the charm? We’ll find out in a couple of weeks.

The Oilers won the season series against the Kings 3-1. Their only loss to the Kings this season was in Hiller’s head coaching debut. One of those Oilers wins was a shootout victory on December 30, 2023. That makes the Kings’ record 1-2-1 against the Oilers this year, which means the season series was closer than the Oilers’ record against the Kings indicates.

Many Oilers fans were hoping for the Kings again because the Oilers have beaten them in two straight series. The belief is that the Kings are the easier opponent out of the possible outcomes they had. 

The 2022 series went to seven games, and the Kings had a chance to end it at home in game six of that series. The Oilers didn’t have a lead in last year’s series until game five. The Kings are no pushovers, and they head into this series healthier and playing better than the Oilers. 

All I’m saying is be careful what you wish for, Oilers fans.

This playoffs is a as wide open of a tournament as I can remember. Anything can happen. That statement is incredibly true for the Oilers. The Oilers also have a tendency to be their own worst enemy at times. One of the only teams that can beat the Oilers is themselves. They will go far if they stay out of their own way. They could legitimately be eliminated in the first round, or win the Stanley Cup. I hope it’s the latter. It will be a long and dramatic off-season if it’s the former.