It’s a great time of year. The weather is getting warmer, the birds are returning from their southern holiday and we’re in the stretch drive of the 2022-23 NHL regular season. The countdown to the playoffs is on and the Edmonton Oilers are right in the thick of the Pacific Division and Western Conference races.
Predicting where the Oilers will finish is anybody’s guess, but the odds that they will somehow end up playing the Los Angeles Kings in the first or second round of the playoffs are looking better and better every day. And that’s something I wouldn’t be too over-confident about if I were the Oilers.
Kings Took Oilers to Seven Games in 2022 Playoffs
When the Oilers hosted the Kings in the 2022 Playoffs, some predicted they would handily take the series. The Oilers finished five points ahead of the Kings in the 2021-22 regular season and had home-ice advantage in their first round series. Even without future Hall of Fame defenceman Drew Doughty, the Kings gave the Oilers everything they could handle, and it took a herculean effort by Connor McDavid in Game 6 and Game 7 of that series to seal the Oilers’ victory.
In fact, the challenge the Kings put up against the Oilers helped propel McDavid to another level. One that he hasn’t looked back from. He found even more of the fire inside that you need to be a champion, and now, like all of the greats in NHL history, the desire to win is consuming him. But it looks like this playoff season could present an even greater challenge for McDavid and the Oilers if they meet Los Angeles, as the Kings have been playing great hockey all year.
Fiala, Korpisalo and Doughty Could Be The Difference for the Kings
The Kings are deeper this season after the acquisition of left winger Kevin Fiala in the offseason and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo at the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline. Fiala currently leads the Kings in scoring, while Korpisalo has strengthened the Kings’ goaltending picture. They had to let go of popular netminder Jonathan Quick to get Korpisalo and the move is already paying dividends as he has put up a .921 save percentage with a 3-0 record so far.
The intangible in all of this is that Korpisalo seems to have had the Oilers’ number…
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