Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA – Photo by Icon sport

Los Angeles Kings vs Edmonton Oilers Game 1: Western Conference Playoffs – First Round

The Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings are starting their playoff battle at Rogers Place on Monday.

How good are the Oilers?

The Edmonton Oilers finished the regular season in fifth place in the Western Conference with a 49-27-6 record. They ended the regular-season schedule by losing four of the last five games and are coming off a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. The Oilers are fourth in the league, scoring 3.56 goals per game and converting 26.3% of their power play situations. Defensively, the Oilers are tenth, allowing 2.88 goals per game. Connor McDavid leads the league with 100 assists and is ranked third with 132 points.

Can the Kings live on their defense?

The Los Angeles Kings finished the regular season seventh in the Western Conference with a 44-27-11 record. They won three of the last four games to close out the regular season and are coming off a 5-4 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks. The Kings are third in the league, allowing 2.56 goals per game, and fifth with a 91.2 save percentage. Offensively, they are 16th with 3.10 goals per game. Adrian Kempe leads the team with 75 points, two more than Kevin Fiala.

Betting Trends

Edmonton has won 6 of the last 7 games against Los Angeles. The Oilers are 1-4 SU in the last five games overall and 11-3 SU in the last 14 home games. The Kings are 6-2 SU in their last 8 games overall and 5-1 SU in the last 6 games against teams from the Pacific Division.

Prediction and Conclusion

The Edmonton Oilers finished fifth in the Western Conference, which does not look like a promising start for the playoffs. Still, they are as good a team as anyone in the league, with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl being two of the best tandems in the league. The Oilers won 16 consecutive games at one point in the season, and no team will have an easy job against them in the playoffs. The Kings barely made it with a solid run late in the season. The Kings have among the best defenses in the league, but slowing down the Oilers will be a difficult task. The opening game of the series may set the tone for the entire series, so the Oilers will take advantage of the home ice and take the lead in the series.