If you’re looking at this series from a wider lens, you’d probably wonder what could possibly have changed.
I mean, it’s the Kings and the Oilers once again, for the fourth straight season. The Oilers have won the first three matchups, in increasingly shorter fashion, taking a seven-game series in 2022, all the way down to a five-game win in 2024. On paper, you’d see the same two clubs, with the same star players on the Edmonton side and you’d likely feel pretty confident in the Oilers winning once again, even if you didn’t have them continuing their run of shorter tenures.
It’s true that a lot of things are the same on the Edmonton side and no matter how you spin it, a matchup with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl is always going to be a challenging one. But the Kings would tell you it’s wrong to say this is the same old Kings team. And it really isn’t.
First things first, it’s a Kings team that will open up the series in Los Angeles, as opposed to Edmonton.
While the Kings have actually won more games in Alberta than California over the last three series, this year’s team won 31 games at home, a franchise record, with the NHL’s best winning percentage in their own building. Home-ice advantage is certainly greater during the regular season, when teams are on unbalanced travel schedules, but having Game 1 at Crypto.com Arena certainly adds an element of confidence to the group heading into the matchup.
“Going into the playoffs, I would say [this is our best chance as a group], because we have home-ice advantage,” forward Adrian Kempe said. “We feel in the locker room that we’re a better team than we’ve been in the past……everybody is pretty confident in how we’re playing right now and it feels like we’re a better team than we’ve been in the past.”
While it took some time to build, the team we’re seeing entering tomorrow evening’s Game 1, as Kempe noted, is different than any Kings team we’ve seen since these two teams began their regular matchups. It’s a Kings team that is, first and foremost, deeper all over the ice than we’ve seen in past seasons.
What’s interesting to me is that this is actually the strategy last year’s team had in the summer, when optimism was probably as high as it’s been. The Kings simply can’t outskill McDavid and Draisaitl, 2-for-2. No team in the league can. But can they win in the aggregate, with three lines that are of top-six caliber, creating a mismatch somewhere else? They tried to achieve that this year but were unable to.
Now they have.
With improvements on the blueline and in net to complement and a staggering season in net from Darcy Kuemper, this is the deepest Kings team we’ve seen since they re-entered the playoff picture in 2022. And there’s something to be said for that.
“Our goaltending is very solid this year, I think our d-core became more solid this year and I think our forwards became deeper, throughout the whole lineup,” defenseman Drew Doughty said. “All of those things make us a much better team this year and I feel like we have a lot more confidence going into it.”
Doughty is certainly equipped to speak on what’s different, because he’s been here all four seasons.
So is Anze Kopitar, who has played in every playoff game over the past three seasons. He echoed what Doughty said, pointing to a more “stable” group in Los Angeles, especially up front, with younger players and new additions taking steps forward to bolster the team.
“I feel like we’re more stable throughout the lineup and a lot of the credit to the young guys for bringing that stability,” Kopitar added. “We’re going to need everybody from here on out to play our game.”
Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images
On top of younger players taking steps forwards, there are also those who are new this season, including three players who have either won the Stanley Cup or been there over the last handful of seasons. Kuemper’s Vezina-caliber season is obviously top of mind but Joel Edmundson has provided calmness and stability on the blueline while Warren Foegele has proven to be the perfect stylistic fit up front, setting career bests in goals and points in the process.
There were times over the past three years when I think the biggest of moments overwhelmed the Kings. At times. It wasn’t always for longer stretches. But could a more experienced group have seen out a 3-0 lead in Game 4 in 2023? Or capitalized on a 2-2 game in the third period at home in 2022? Or found the breakthrough of a 0-0 game they were dominating at home in 2024?
In each setting, those were swing games. Could’ve clinched the series in 2022. Could’ve taken a commanding 3-1 lead in 2023. Could’ve sent the series back to Edmonton 2-2 last spring. The Kings lost all three of those games, all of which were very winnable. Not to paint it all on inexperience, but more experience certainly couldn’t have hurt their chances.
They have substantially more of that in the mix and team leaders believe it could help.
“We needed that, I think we had three guys that had won in here before that, right,” Doughty added. “That experience means a ton. They’re not going to buckle under pressure, they’re going to thrive in the occasion when that opportunity hits. We needed those guys, they were all huge additions.”
Those three players are perhaps the least-equipped to speak about the differences between the Kings of old and the Kings of now.
Kuemper and Edmundson, certainly, though Foegele has had the first-hand look from the other side of the ice. But still, they weren’t in the room last year or the two before that. They weren’t a part of what ultimately saw those teams fall short. As such, they can’t compare and contrast. What they are, though, is a fresh set of eyes on what is here right now.
“I can’t speak on the last three years, I don’t know what the group was like, but we have a good thing going in this locker room,” Edmundson said. “We care about each other and we play for each other. Those are the things you have to do that can take you deep into the playoffs. We’ve got something special here and we’re looking forward to Game 1.”
The something special, you could say is perhaps an X-Factor.
You can’t quantify it. It doesn’t show up on a depth chart or a stat sheet. It’s something you hear a lot of teams say and which means a lot of teams that don’t reach the ultimate destination have said it and lost. I’ll say this, though. You didn’t hear it last year. If you did, you didn’t feel it.
I don’t think it’s a stretch at all to say this group does feel differently. They believe differently, both in each other and in the team’s structure, culture and approach.
“It’s a different feeling in this room than last year, in my opinion,” forward Kevin Fiala said.
But what does that mean, exactly?
Fiala said it’s more positive this time around, sure, but a lot of teams probably believe in a different feeling right? But do they believe in believe, to steal one from the great Ted Lasso? This team certainly does. And while it is a fickle thing to measure, it’s something the Kings certainly feel is in their corner.
“Just the belief,” Fiala said. “I don’t think I’ve been on as close of a team before, everybody is really close with each other, loves each other, believes in each other and wants to work for each other. There’s no doubt about it. There’s going to be mistakes, but all season has been up and down and we never had it out. We’ve been consistent like crazy this season. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
There are a lot of things in that quote that I think a lot of people say. But Fiala is right in that the Kings have several several ups and downs this season and they’ve tended to come through the other side better off for it. Doesn’t mean it’s a foolproof plan. But a tough, tight-knit and more experienced group that sees adversity in this series is better equipped to overcome it than perhaps we’ve seen in seasons past.
Because, as noted above, the Kings had their chances over the last three years to swing the series we ultimately saw go the other direction. One each year that really stood out. And they didn’t do it.
Odds are they’ll have that chance again here this spring. Will it be tomorrow in Game 1? Probably not. It’s too early. But a strong showing in Game 1 could set the tone for that moment to come later in the series.
Jim Hiller said it’s an area that is better for the players to answer than him. He and the coaching staff are in the room and they’ve got a good pulse, but ultimately the players would know best how a team believes. If they’re saying it, though, he feels confident that, heading into Game 1, there’s something to it.
“Every year, the team is different and it takes on a spirit,” Jim Hiller added. “You hope that the spirit grows, those are the best teams, when it just keeps growing. Sometimes, it doesn’t grow to the levels you’d like it to or think it needs to. The fact that they’re saying, this year, they feel like it has, and they’ve gotten to where they need to be so far……that’s a good thing for us.”
Ultimately, the proof will be in the puddling. The Kings could be deeper in every area, more experienced in the collective and better equipped to believe……and still lose. It’s within the range of outcomes.
But they will have that moment, perhaps more than once, to take control of the series in a way they haven’t done in the past. When presented with that test, it’s a team-wide belief that this group is the best equipped to seize the moment when it is presented. This time tomorrow, it’ll be time to show it on the ice. Hard not to get excited in thinking about it.
Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images
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