Kings get yet another crack at the Oilers

There are a few sure signs of spring in Alberta. The snow turns to slush, the Canada geese return to the ponds, lakes and streams and the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings face each other in the Western Conference playoffs.

The rivals will meet in the first round for the third straight season, with the Oilers looking to make it a hat trick of wins. They rebounded from a 3-2 series deficit to win a seven-game thriller two seasons ago. In 2023, they beat L.A. in six.

“It could only be you,” the Kings social media team posted on X minutes after L.A. beat Chicago, 5-4 in overtime, to clinch third in the Pacific on the final day of the regular season.

The series starts Monday night in Edmonton.

“We know they’re a really good team. They have some star players,” said Kings forward Quinton Byfield. “It’s going to be a really hard series, but hopefully it’s our time now.”

While the players are familiar with each other, the head coaches are not. Both the Kings and Oilers made changes predicated by long slumps. For the Oilers, Jay Woodcroft was ousted after Edmonton’s 3-9-1 start. They went a blistering 46-18-5 under rookie head coach Kris Knoblauch, including a 16game win streak that was just one shy of the NHL record.

“It’s been a wild ride: starting real low, then having a real high there in the middle with that win streak and getting ourselves back into it,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid. “And here we are, about to host a playoff series. It’s hard to think from where we’ve come. It’s a credit to everybody in this room and the resiliency of this group.”

The Kings fired Todd McLellan after a 17-game stretch with just three wins. Jim Hiller was brought in to steady the team, and the Kings finished 44-27-11.