After winning a coin flip of a Freeway Faceoff, the Kings were off to Western Canada for three games in four nights that they could ill afford to leave to chance.
They’re in a points tie with Monday’s opponent, the same Edmonton Oilers that eliminated them in consecutive postseasons and who possess the tiebreaker as well as a game in hand. They’ll be moving on to Calgary for Tuesday’s clash with the Flames and, ultimately, to Vancouver on Thursday for the first of four meetings in five weeks with the division-leading Canucks.
Heading into the All-Star break, the Kings and Oilers were moving in opposite directions with the Kings dropping 14 of 17 games and Edmonton capturing 16 straight. Since returning to action, however, the Kings have posted a 6-2-0 mark while the Oilers have gone 4-5-1.
“Every point matters right now. We dug ourselves in a bit of a hole there in January, so we need to take every win we can get now,” Kings defenseman Matt Roy said after a 3-2 shootout win over the Ducks on Saturday.
The Kings did not surrender any even-strength goals against Anaheim but they haven’t scored any in more than 125 minutes either. Drew Doughty’s garbage-time tally against Columbus gave way to two complete contests and an overtime across which the Kings scored three power-play goals (including two by Kevin Fiala, who’s got a man-advantage marker in three straight appearances) but none at even strength.
“Getting closer to [the] playoffs, I think 5-on-5 play is going to be huge,” said Roy, who played predominantly with Brandt Clarke after Mikey Anderson’s week-to-week injury scrambled the defense corps. “If we can keep that to a minimum, get some of our own 5-on-5 and let our special teams do their work, I think it’s going to help us a lot.”
The playoffs are always very much a focus when the Kings and Oilers collide, given that Edmonton has sent the Kings home in consecutive campaigns. This season, they’ve split two meetings to date, while both clubs have seen elevated expectations tempered by funks that led to coaching changes.
Though Edmonton is currently seesawing through a stretch that’s seen it play .450 hockey since the pause, captain Connor McDavid has remained prolific. He has posted four straight multipoint performances and done the same in seven of his last 10 games, including a six-assist outburst against the Detroit Red Wings.
McDavid’s linemate Zach Hyman sat tied for third in the NHL in goals (37) on Sunday, riding a four-game goal streak over which he’s found the twine five times. Hyman was a close friend of the Kings’ leading goal-scorer, Trevor Moore, when they were in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ system together. Moore extended his goal drought to 12 games but scored decisively in Saturday’s shootout.
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Most recently, McDavid, Hyman and their cohorts lost their own rivalry game, Saturday’s Battle of Alberta, in which the Flames triumphed 6-3.
Calgary sandwiched a three-game slide between two three-game surges since the break, leaving them three points back of a wild-card spot on Sunday morning. They were in that position despite trading a significant player (Elias Lindholm) with other notable names in play ahead of the March 8 trade deadline.
Those players could include defenseman Noah Hanifin, who spearheaded Saturday’s victory with two goals and an assist. Nazem Kadri had a three-point showing to kickstart Calgary’s modest streak as well as the game-winner against Boston in their second victory and a goal against Edmonton. While Kadri’s future seems quite secure, the same may not be true of defenseman Chris Tanev and goalie Jacob Markström, whose names have been bandied about in trade rumors frequently this season.