Kings vs Oilers Round 1

Kings will win Game 1, Oilers will rough them up in Game 2 and the heartless Kings inability to handle physicality will respond by sinking further into their ultra conservative system and lose several close games due to Edmonton's superior game breaking talent. No matter how much they buckle down, Draisaitl and McDavid will find their moments.

Oilers in 5.

The Kings have zero on-ice leadership. No accountability, no push back. Anybody comparing THIS team to the Cup winners is fooling themselves. They have no collective spirit to rise up to meet the big moments. Edmonton was the worst possible first round matchup as they cannot handle their strengths.
 
I'm in the camp that if they can't stop Edmonton's PP everything else is moot point. King's PK has to click at over 85% for them to even have a chance in my opinion.

And the power of the 1-3-1 seems to be diminished by using McJesus as the trailing forward with speed on entry. They're going to need to slow him down somehow or stacking the line won't matter either as he'll just blow right by them. I really hate the "slingshot" zone entry, but EDM is incredibly effective with it when they get McDavid breaking the sound barrier as he picks up the drop.
 
Statue4Deano said:
The hockey world hates that we run the 1-3-1 because they know we’re really good at it (at times) and we can actually win if it’s executed correctly.

I’m rewatching highlights from Oct. - Dec. and I’m starting to believe…



February 10th wasn’t that long ago, folks.
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February 10th is my birthday. It feels like another dimension.
 
This mostly feels like a game of “Would You Rather?”

Would you rather get destroyed and swept or teased and still bounced in 6 or 7?
 
Holy moly, I had completely forgotten we won game 1 in OT last year. I basically only remember game 4, sadly. (and I was at all 3 home games - it was a very intense, crazy spring for me - at least that's the excuse I'm going with and not old age!!)

As for this year:
If PLD can manage to lay a check, we have a chance.

We've got a healthy (as far as we know) team with 3 days to rest up. Drew's minutes this season weren't too insane, so I'm sure he's got another level he can tap into. If Matt Roy can step up his physicality without taking penalties that's 2 solid lines of D, plus the Englund factor. Gavrikov has been quiet lately, hopefully saving some energy for the playoffs as well.

As far as goaltending is concerned, the good news is that McD takes most of his shots to the glove side, because Talbot's stick side has been weak, weak, weak.

Moore, Kempe, Fiala, and Danault all have another level, I think, and hopefully Byfield can play like he did last night. (EDIT: just watched all those highlight reels....quite a few EDM goals were due to Byfield mistakes, the kind he won't be making this season. Amazing how much better his skating is than in these vids from last year, too.)

Hurry up, Monday at 7pm!!!
 
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Yeah, the Kings won the first game of the last two playoff series with the Oilers and I was on cloud 9. :mhihi: :cool:
 
The only way I see the Kings winning this series is if McDavid is hurt worse than the team is letting on.

Kings can grind out 4 wins vs either McDavid or Draisaitl but they can’t grind out 4 wins vs. both.

If the Kings want to score 5 on 5 it’s going to happen via counter punching. Force turnovers high in their zone near the blue line or in the neutral zone. If Kempe, Byfield, Laf and PLD can use their footspeed to create chances off the rush then the Kings will score some goals. It’s a tall ask but there’s no other feasible way this group will score at even strength.

Danault must be deployed vs McDavid as much as possible. Keep Kopi away from Draisaitl. He’s too slow and lumbering. Instead make The German play some defense. Throw PLD with Fiala and Byfield out there against Draisaitl and see if making him play some defense will wear him out a bit. Let Kopi and Kempe play against Nugent-Hopkins or Henrique’s lines.

it’s not impossible to see a Kings path to series victory but it’s a very long shot unfortunately.
 
santiclaws said:
2. Oilers' breakout. Can the Kings keep pressure on the Oilers' D, which is a bit of a weakness, to keep them from giving good outlet passes which will allow McDavid to come screaming through the neutral zone? Q will be absolutely instrumental here.
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This is the point I think is the most important. Well, that and "stay out of the box" is a VERY close, if not equal second.
The best way to stop McDammit is to not let him get the puck, or not let him get it cleanly. I would LOVE a Brownie like hit on him right when he gets the puck a couple of times, but unfortunately, that's not the team we have. The forecheck is going to be instrumental in slowing him down, by slowing down their D, and as we know, is one of the weakest parts of the team. Rattle them, and we have a chance. Stay outta the box, and our chances are significantly better.

I'm looking at our really fast guys to step it up in this area. Laf, Moore, Lizzo...this is their time to shine!

Go Kings! Kings in 6!
 
boy1der said:
This is the point I think is the most important. Well, that and "stay out of the box" is a VERY close, if not equal second.
The best way to stop McDammit is to not let him get the puck, or not let him get it cleanly. I would LOVE a Brownie like hit on him right when he gets the puck a couple of times, but unfortunately, that's not the team we have. The forecheck is going to be instrumental in slowing him down, by slowing down their D, and as we know, is one of the weakest parts of the team. Rattle them, and we have a chance. Stay outta the box, and our chances are significantly better.

I'm looking at our really fast guys to step it up in this area. Laf, Moore, Lizzo...this is their time to shine!

Go Kings! Kings in 6!
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Well, we're not going to out-physical them, so our best chance is to stay out of the box and out-skate them.

I think goaltending is The X Factor here. We need Talbot and Big Save Dave to be on the top of their games or we have no shot. Point Blank.

And most obviously we have to at least split in Edmonton. I don't see any possibility of us taking both games at Edmonton, but if we lose both games, we're toast.

If we split, we come back to LA with the opportunity to head back to Canada up 3-1.

This is obviously a best case scenario, but is not out of the realm of possibility.
 
boy1der said:
This is the point I think is the most important. Well, that and "stay out of the box" is a VERY close, if not equal second.
The best way to stop McDammit is to not let him get the puck, or not let him get it cleanly. I would LOVE a Brownie like hit on him right when he gets the puck a couple of times, but unfortunately, that's not the team we have. The forecheck is going to be instrumental in slowing him down, by slowing down their D, and as we know, is one of the weakest parts of the team. Rattle them, and we have a chance. Stay outta the box, and our chances are significantly better.

I'm looking at our really fast guys to step it up in this area. Laf, Moore, Lizzo...this is their time to shine!

Go Kings! Kings in 6!
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they actually did it pretty well 5 on 5 in the playoffs last season. But the Oilers' PP slaughtered them.
 
Was considering a Fiala PIM to scoring ratio joke on winning the series, but did he really only have 62 PIM on the season? What a letdown.
 
Watching Big Rig Maroon throw his weight around to start this Bruins/leafs game. Wondering who’s gonna step up for the Kings.

Also, the Bruins PA playing Misfits ‘we are 138’ right now. Seriously, fvck the staples/crypto entertainment ppl. They’ve got to be worst in the league, or close to it..
 
Our best players are Kempe and Fiala. And one of those is on the third line. Can’t expect to beat McDavid and Draisatl if Kopitar and Doughty are leading the way. Management knows they keep their jobs by playing the vets and making the playoffs.

They also know most fans are suckers and will support a team that tries hard but loses easily.
 
noname.jpg
 
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Sultanic said:
Kings will win Game 1, Oilers will rough them up in Game 2 and the heartless Kings inability to handle physicality will respond by sinking further into their ultra conservative system and lose several close games due to Edmonton's superior game breaking talent. No matter how much they buckle down, Draisaitl and McDavid will find their moments.

Oilers in 5.

The Kings have zero on-ice leadership. No accountability, no push back. Anybody comparing THIS team to the Cup winners is fooling themselves. They have no collective spirit to rise up to meet the big moments. Edmonton was the worst possible first round matchup as they cannot handle their strengths.
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I get the pessimism but this sounds like a Duck or Oiler fan wrote this. Who hurt you?
 
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