Edmonton Oilers vs Los Angeles Kings - Playoff Prediction, Round Three
Simulating the Oilers vs. Kings playoff series in NHL 24
One of our last entries for our NHL 24 playoff simulations, is round three between the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Round one came in 2022 where each team traded wins until the Oilers won in games six and seven to take the series. Last year, round two was another close series with four out of the six games being decided by one goal. Los Angeles led the series 2-1, but the Oilers scored 16 goals in the next three games en route to a 4-2 series victory.
The Kings organization has struggled against Edmonton in the playoffs. They are 2-7 all-time in the post-season against them, with their last series victory back in 1989. The Oilers held a 3-1 series lead until none other than Wayne Gretzky helped lead the Kings back to win three straight games to win the series.
Edmonton won the season series 3-1. Connor McDavid led all players with two goals and seven points. Stuart Skinner started all four games against LA, posting an impressive .936 save percentage.
Quinton Byfield was the highest-scoring LA player against the Oilers this year with two goals and six points. Cam Talbot and David Rittich split starts against their playoff foes, Talbot had a .888 save percentage, while Rittich was better with a .929.
The simulation turned out to be a wild one. The Kings went up to a 3-0 series lead before the Oilers rallied back to complete the reverse sweep and win the series 4-3.
Los Angeles' depth stood out and although goaltending is a big question mark heading into this series, Cam Talbot was very strong in the crease all series long.
No surprise here, but McDavid and Draisaitl led Edmonton in scoring with seven and six points respectively, and Skinner stepped up in net. He had only one game all series long where he finished with a save percentage below .900, ending the series with a .933 and a 2.13 goals-against-average.
This series is anticipated to be another bloodbath and the Oilers are once again the favorites to win. Can Los Angeles avoid a third first-round exit from the hands of Edmonton? Puck drop is Monday at 10pm EST.
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