The Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings will meet in the first round of the NHL playoffs for the third straight season.
Game 1 will take place on Monday night, April 22, at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. They’ll drop the puck at 10 p.m. EDT and you can watch it on ESPN2 and live stream it on ESPN+, fubo TV (FREE trial), Sling TV (first-month discount) and DirecTV Stream (free trial).
Two NHL teams meeting three straight years in the first round of the playoffs hasn’t happened since 2001, when Dallas faced Edmonton.
The Oilers will attempt to repeat what the Stars did to them 23 years ago — advance to the conference semifinals for the third straight season. The Oilers won the series in six games last season and advanced in seven in 2022.
Edmonton has dominated play against Los Angeles the past three seasons, winning eight of the 12 regular-season meetings, including three of the four games this season.
- WATCH: ESPN2, and live stream on ESPN+, fubo TV (FREE trial), Sling TV (first-month discount) and DirecTV Stream (free trial).
“I think we owe them,” Kings forward Quinton Byfield told The Associated Press. “They’re going to be a tough out for sure, but they’re a team that we really want to beat.”
Both teams had coaching changes during the regular season. The Oilers had a league-best 97 points since Kris Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft on Nov. 12. That included a 16-game winning streak that was one shy of tying the NHL record set by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1993.
Jim Hiller led the Kings to a 21-12-1 mark after replacing Todd McLellan during the All-Star break. Los Angeles is a league-best 14-3-1 at home since Hiller took over as the interim on Feb. 2.
Edmonton’s Connor McDavid was third in the league in scoring with 132 points and was the fourth player in league history to reach the century mark in assists. Teammate Leon Draisaitl was seventh with 106 points (41 goals, 65 assists). The two have combined for 22 goals and 11 assists against the Kings in the past two postseason series.
Evander Kane has 10 goals in 13 games in the past two years, including a hat trick in Game 3 in 2022.
Trevor Moore led the Kings with a career-high 31 goals. Adrian Kempe was the leading scorer with 75 points (28 goals, 47 assists), and Kevin Fiala added 73 points (29 goals, 44 assists).
Anze Kopitar had the league’s seventh-best shooting percentage, with 26 goals on 133 shots (19.5%) and finished with 70 points.
- WATCH: ESPN2, and live stream on ESPN+, fubo TV (FREE trial), Sling TV (first-month discount) and DirecTV Stream (free trial).
Kempe has seven goals and seven assists against the Oilers in the playoffs, and Kopitar has 11 points (three goals, eight assists), according to The Associated Press preview.
In net, Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner (36-16-5, 2.62 GAA, .905 save percentage) was tied for third in the league in wins and set a franchise record with 11 straight victories during the middle of the season. Los Angeles’ Cam Talbot (27-20-6, 2.50 GAA, .913 save percentage) was 10th in the league in save percentage. He is 13-7-1 since going through a stretch where he lost 10 straight starts.
This series will match up two of the league’s best units. Los Angeles was second in the league in penalty killing at 84.6%; Edmonton was fourth on the power play at 26.3%. The Kings were 12th on the power play (22.6% conversion rate) and the Oilers 15th (79.5%) when killing penalties.
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What is ESPN+
With 75 weekly national games and more than 1,000 out-of-market games available, ESPN+ is home to the widest selection of NHL games anywhere this season. ESPN+ is also a great value for fans of soccer, UFC, MMA, baseball, hockey, boxing, golf, and college sports. The cost is just $10.99/month.
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DirecTV Stream is a no-term commitment service. That means that you can enjoy the best of Live TV and On-demand local and national channels without the contracts. DirecTV Stream comes with a 7-day free trial, which is its best selling point.
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Sling lets you stream on-demand movies, live TV shows, and live sports instantly on all your favorite devices. Choose the channel package (Blue, Orange or Blue + Orange) that fits your tastes and take control of your TV streaming lineup. Live TV streaming services such as Sling TV save you money by offering channel bundles that let you customize your service so you’re not paying for dozens of channels that you’ll never watch.
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