Oilers vs. Kings predictions, odds, TV schedule for 1st round of 2023 NHL playoffs

For the second consecutive postseason, the first round of the NHL playoffs features a Pacific Division battle between the Oilers and the Kings. 

It's a rematch of the 2022 first-round series that went the full seven games. Edmonton prevailed in 2022, storming back from down 3-2 in the series to knock out Los Angeles on its run to the conference finals. 

No team enters the 2023 postseason hotter than the Oilers. The club closed out the regular season on a nine-game winning streak and secured points in its last 15 games.

Connor McDavid had another regular season where he made the NHL look easy. The Oilers captain became just the sixth player to score at least 150 points and the fourth player in the salary cap era to score 60 goals, ending the year with 64 tucks and 153 points. It's the third year in a row he will take home the Art Ross Trophy for the most points in the league, and he'll earn his first Rocket Richard for the most goals. 

Looking to stop McDavid and the Oilers is a Kings team that proved last season was no fluke. Los Angeles ended the season third in the Pacific, all while completely changing its goaltending duo that started the year.

The Kings ride into the postseason on the backs of journeyman goaltender Pheonix Copley and deadline acquisition Joonas Korpisalo. 

Here's what you need to know about the series between the Oilers and Kings. 

Key storyline: Can the Oilers defense continue its success into the playoffs?

The Bruins ended the regular season as the team with the best record, but perhaps the best team since the turn of the new year has been the Oilers. After a shaky first half of the season, Edmonton turned things around in the last few months of the season, and the improvement on defense is a direct correlation to that success. 

The Oilers gave up an average of 3.32 goals per game in the 2022 portion of the calendar. In 2023, that number dipped to 2.95. The emergence of rookie goaltender Stuart Skinner has played a large part in that. 

While there were plenty of successful deadline acquisitions around the league, there's no single addition that has made as big of an impact as Mattias Ekholm has for the Oilers. The team went 16-2-1 to end the year after GM Ken Holland traded for the Predators blue liner. His steady, two-way presence has been exactly what the Oilers needed on the back end. 

No one knows of the Oilers' defensive improvements more than the Kings. After beating the Oilers twice in the first half of the season, they dropped the last two contests, managing just one goal in those games. 

Edmonton's offense is scary enough, but having a defense that can actually stop its opposition makes the team deadly. Los Angeles is in for a battle. 

Oilers vs. Kings playoff schedule, TV channels

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Oilers vs. Kings odds

According to Sports Interaction, the Oilers are the favorite to win the series against the Islanders. 

Oilers: -213

Kings: +187

Oilers vs. Kings prediction

The Oilers proved last season that they could rely on their offense to get through multiple playoff series. Despite its defense being awful, Edmonton managed to make it all the way to the Western Conference Final in 2022, losing to Colorado. 

Now, the Oilers have the defense and goaltending needed to win a Stanley Cup.

While Los Angeles won't make it easy, the Kings just do not have the offense to keep up with the Oilers, and the goaltending is not elite enough to contain McDavid and Co.