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For the third straight year, the Edmonton Oilers have knocked out the Los Angeles Kings in the first-round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Oilers got the job done on home ice in Game 5 on Wednesday night, beating their Pacific Division rivals 4-3 and advancing to face the winner of the Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators in Round 2.
Leon Draisaitl was phenomenal in both the game and the series; the superstar scored two goals in the clincher, giving him 10 points in just five contests. The only player with more in the playoffs is teammate Connor McDavid, who’s amassed 12 points of his own in the same span.
It continues to be Draisaitl and McDavid leading the way for the Oilers — both in the regular-season and playoffs — and the German made a bold claim as the superstar core continues to chase a yet-elusive Stanley Cup.
“I think we’re probably a better team this year than we were last year or the year before, we’re more mature, which plays a big part sometimes,” Draisaitl said after the series win, per NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest.
The 28-year-old also gave a ton of credit to the Kings afterwards.
“But that’s a really good team over there, they make it hard on you,” he added. “It’s an absolute grind against them every night. Hats off to the way they compete and play the game. That being said, we did a really good job of getting our minds ready for that and mentally being ready for the challenge.”
Two seasons ago, it took seven games for the Oilers to knock out the Kings in Round 1. Last year, it was six. And on Wednesday night in front of a raucous crowd at Rogers Place, it took just five.
Oilers back in Round 2 for 3rd straight year
The Oilers were a great team last year, but were unable to overcome the eventual champion Vegas Golden Knights, who knocked Edmonton out in six games. The Oil will avoid the Knights this year unless they both return to the Western Conference Final, but Vegas has their hands full down 3-2 to the Dallas Stars after losing on Wednesday.
Instead, it’ll either be a third meeting with the Canucks in the playoffs, or a first-ever postseason meeting between the Oilers and Predators. Ahead of a matchup with either the Nucks or Preds — the former leads the latter 3-2 ahead of Friday night’s Game 6 — the Oilers will take a couple of days to rest after the hard-fought series win.
“We’ve been in these situations before and that’s maybe where you can draw on your experience,” McDavid said afterwards, per Van Diest. “Experience and maturity; we’re not a young team here, we have lots of guys that have played in big games and in big situations, and those ups and downs and those momentum swings are all part of it.
“You think about the series, we get off to a good start, kind of give momentum away but we were able to get it back and I think that shows some growth. I think for us also finding a way to stack some games, get it to 3-1 and finish off the series in Game 5, that’s a big step for our group. A lot of good signs, but it’s only one series.”
The Oilers will bring a red hot offense and a similarly red hot powerplay into the second-round after resoundingly winning the special teams battle against the Kings. It’s the first time Edmonton has advanced past the first-round in three straight years since 1990-92.
But, as McDavid said, the work is just getting started as the Oilers continue to chase a Stanley Cup in 2024.
More must-reads:
- Former Red Wings head coach linked to open NHL job
- Watch: Chris Kreider's natural third-period hat trick shatters Hurricanes' comeback hopes
- The 'Most career 40-point playoff games' quiz
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