Scouting report in the first round, prediction – Orange County Register

Series calendar

(Best of-Seven, all time pt)

Game 1: Monday, in Crypto.com Arena, 7 p.m. (FDSNW)

Game 2: Wednesday, in Crypto.com Arena, 7 p.m. (FDSNSC)

Game 3: Friday, in Rogers in Edmonton, 7 p.m. (FDSNSC)

Game 4: Sun, April 27, in Rogers place in Edmonton, 6.30 p.m. (FDSNW)

* Game 5: Tuesday April 29, in Crypto.com Arena, Time TBD (TV TBD)

* Game 6: Thursday, May 1, in Rogers place in Edmonton, Time TBD (TV TBD)

* Game 7: Saturday May 3, in Crypto.com Arena, Time TBD (TV TBD)

* – If necessary

Tête-à-tête

The Kings won the regular season series, 3-1-0 (Oilers 1-2-1)

December 28: Kings 4, Oilers 3 (OT), on Crypto.com Arena

January 13: Oilers 1, Kings 0, in Edmonton

April 5: Kings 3, Oilers 0, on Crypto.com Arena

April 14: Kings 5, Oilers 0, in Edmonton

History of the band

Oilers (regular rank)… Category… Kings (regular seasonal rank)

48-29-5, 101 points… season record… 48-25-9, 105 points

3.16 (11th)… goals per game… 3.04 (14th)

2.87 (14th)… goals-with per game… 2.48 (2nd)

26.3% (4th)… Power-Play PCT. … 22.6% (12th)

78.2% (16th)… PCT Kill Pct. … 81.4% (8th)

+23 (11th)… Differential of objectives… +44 (6th)

89.7% (19th)… Save PCT. … 90.8% (5th)

50.9% (12th)… Face-Off PCT. … 50.6% (14th)

Attacker

The kings and oilers have reconfigured each other a little in advance, although the key figures remain the same in this fourth consecutive meeting in the first round between the rivals, after Edmonton won the three previous ones. They even exchanged two free agency attackers, Viktor Arvidsson signing a two -year agreement with Edmonton and Warren Foegele heading for the Kings for three seasons. Arvidsson was a solid contributor because the oilers succeeded in a plethora of injuries at the end of the season while Foegele was a double -way player all year round. The big cannons for Edmonton, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl missed time down. But that did not prevent Draisaitl, whose 52 goals led the league, from being n ° 1 on many ballots for the Hart trophy, the MVP price of the League that Draisaitl won once before and McDavid has captured three times. There are two of several dubious health ilers, including Evander Kane, who should come back after missing the whole regular season. Even a sleeping Kane can be dangerous: he has 12 goals and 16 points in 18 clashes in Kings-Oillers qualifiers. For the Kings, Ane Kopitar and Adrian Kempe have a new cohort in the deadlines, Andrei Kuzmenko, while the line of Quinton Byfield, Kevin Fiala and Alex Laferriere has become a force. Since January 16, Fiala and Byfield have been classifying n ° 1 and 2 by scoring in the team, while Laferriere has a rating of +11. The only thing that prevents Laferriere from being a quality note by team is that the trio of Foegele, Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore was so effective. Edge: Oilers

Defender

The Kings will have their full range of components on the blue line for the series while the Oilers will undoubtedly be their best versatile defender, Mattias Ekholm. This was not always the case for the Kings, who played most of the season without Drew Doughty. Vladislav Gavrikov occupied his side and trained a ruthlessly effective couple with Mikey Anderson. Without their perennial leader in time on ice, the Kings demanded more from their other defenders and, on the whole, they delivered. Kings remain an elite suppression team which is very difficult to rally once they have an advance. Without Ekholm, the Oilers will be based strongly on the gifted but often stolen Evan Bouchard as well as the Darnell nurse. The latter’s eliminators’ struggles are well documented, and a nurse has just escaped in suspension for match 1 on Monday after a crossed Sirat on a lying byfield did not prohibit it for the regular season endless season. Edge: Kings

Goalkeepers

Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard posted a percentage of sub900 stops this season and although they have been adequate, the goalkeeper is not exactly an Edmonton force. This was also true for kings in previous clashes, but this business of the season, Darcy Kuemper, could well be a finalist in the Vezina trophy. The 34 -year -old man, who won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022, posted the lowest average of the goals and 2.00) and most of the (five) bleaching his career. He was elected MVP of the team by the local media and was called “the backbone” of the club several times by coache staff this season. Edge: Kings

Special teams

The Kings had a huge success of the regular season on the penalty of last year and a solid performance on the power game two years ago, to lose the battle of the special teams in the last season. They actually allowed Edmonton to obtain objectives of more than half of their more man’s opportunities while not marking themselves electricity game objectives. This led them to reorganize the PK, going to a heavier pressure system which also made them more dangerous in digital disadvantage. The Power Play of Oilers set a single season record for the conversion rate two years ago and even if he remained in the first five unit again this year, he was not downright intimidating. The Kings power game had struggled for a large part of the season, especially on the road, but everything related to the offensive has increased for the Kings from the commercial deadline of March 7. Even with the killing of the penalties and the improvement of the game of the new Kings look, Edmonton benefits from doubt thanks to their total domination in the series of last year. Edge: Oilers

Coaches

No NHL coach has won more home games since Jim Hiller took the bar for the Kings, with him and DJ Smith keeping the light and fluid energy in the Kings locker room. The two coaches were popular with the players and the hot team finish (17-5-0) let him be able to exceed pre-season expectations. Nevertheless, Kris Knoblauch proved last year that he could win the pots with high issues, having managed the Oilers until match 7 of the Stanley Cup final against the Florida Panthers. Edge: Oilers

Prediction of the series

Although the Kings have set various franchise notes this season – they have equaled the most points and victories in the history of the franchise while accumulating the most home victories in the team tradition – everything is reset in the playoffs. Between having home ice for the first time in four years and the countless health health problems, there would be no better time for the Kings to take a strong swing in the team that intimidated them on three consecutive eliminations of the Stanley Cup. Kings in seven