Los Angeles pushed Edmonton to the brink in 2022, taking the Oilers to a seventh game in their first-round series, but Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were too much for the Kings to overcome. Both teams are improved heading into the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but the Kings strong play down the stretch was not enough to sway sportsbooks from listing the Oilers as a big favorite. To get a sense of each team's strengths and weaknesses, let's take a closer look at their respective statistics and compare them head-to-head.
Here's a tale of the tape for the upcoming series:
Edmonton has a clear advantage on offense, ranking among the top-five teams in goals and expected goals at even strength, and they’ve got the most dangerous powerplay in the league. So dangerous that the Oilers are the first team to have a trio of 100-point scorers (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) since the 1995-96 season. Edmonton lost the first game of the season series in decisive fashion, but that game was back in January and in the two meetings (March 30th and April 4th) since then the Oilers have outscored the Kings 5-1.