While the entire first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs promises to be exciting, one series that many have at the top of their must-watch list is the one between the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings. This is the second year these two will meet in the first round of the playoffs, with last year’s battle Go to Oilers In a series traveled the distance.
As you can imagine, since they played a full seven-game series last year, there is a lot of bad blood between these two teams. One particular incident that troubled the Oilers during that series involved Kings defenseman Mickey Anderson, as he took Leon Draisaitl down to the ice during a scrum, which led to Ankle sprain for the German attacker.
In a move seen by many as revenge, McDavid saw an opportunity to run in Anderson in a game less than a month earlier and sent the Kings defense aggressively into the boards in what was a fairly dangerous play. The Oilers’ captain received two minutes to board, while Anderson left the game and had to miss some time afterwards as a result. Although he has since returned and is good to go for the series, the Kings haven’t forgotten the hit.
Doughty says the Kings would return to McDavid if the opportunity presented itself
Never be shy about giving his opinion, Drew Doughty Make sure to inform the media Prior to Monday night’s game, he and his teammates weren’t happy with McDavid’s hit as it happened. The 33-year-old was unable to play in last year’s series due to a wrist injury but is ready to go this time around, and you can count on him to try and get some revenge on McDavid if the opportunity presents itself to do so.
“We didn’t feel good about it, that’s for sure,” Doughty said, referring to McDavid’s jab. “(Anderson) was out for a week, a week and a half. We lost some games without him, so we weren’t happy about that. It’s not something we forget. We don’t want to go into the penalty area, so I don’t know if we’re going to take stupid penalties on them or any of that.” Like, but if we get a chance to beat him, we’ll try and do that.”
What you have to feel good about if you’re a Kings fan is the fact that Doughty made sure to note that his team wouldn’t go out of their way to take penalties, as they can be very costly against the Oilers. While the Kings are good power plays in their own right, the Oilers’ five-man unit may be the best in NHL history, as they’ve turned in 32.4 percent of their power play chances this season. Taking them away from the man advantage seems to be a game plan in action, as is Adrian Quimby also had some interesting comments When it comes to the Oilers game of equal strength.
“We want to play five-on-five as much as possible,” Kempe told reporters. “We feel we have a huge advantage there.”
While no one can blame a team for wanting to keep the Oilers out of the power game, this assessment by Quimby isn’t necessarily accurate. During the 2022-23 regular season, the Oilers ranked fifth in five goals-for-five with 192, while the Kings were nineteenth with 169. Meanwhile, the two teams ranked very close in goals given up at five-for-five , with the Mozeto allowing 169 against the Kings 160.
Whether Kempe meant to hang it the way some do is unknown, but either way, it adds to what was already expected to be a fiery streak. These two really don’t like each other and aren’t ashamed to say it, and that hatred is only going to grow as the series progresses. While the Oilers are considered favorites, this game has a very good chance of going far again, which will be a huge treat for all hockey fans no matter what team you’re rooting for.