The 82-game rehearsal known as the NHL regular season is over. Now, it’s time for the Kings to show whether they’re contenders or pretenders, to turn a 47-win season and an array of impressive individual accomplishments into a long Stanley Cup playoff run.
It’s all business now. “The game’s over. The year is done. It’s time to move on,” coach Todd McLellan said after his team’s sometimes feisty 5-3 victory over the Ducks in Anaheim on Thursday.
The catch is that their first task is to get past the powerhouse Edmonton Oilers, who have added solid defensive play to their collection of explosive scorers.
The Oilers, who will host Games 1 and 2 of the best-of-seven series on Monday and Wednesday at Rogers Place, ended the season on a nine-game winning streak and a 15-game point streak. Connor McDavid led the NHL in goals (64), assists (89) and points (153). That’s more than double the team-leading 74 points collected by Anze Kopitar, who became the Kings’ top scorer for the 15th time in 16 seasons when he contributed a goal and an assist Thursday.
The Oilers, who had two more 100-point scorers in Leon Draisaitl (128) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (104) and set an NHL record for power-play efficiency at 32.4%, are better in goal with Stuart Skinner and more physical on defense than they were last year, when they had to rally to defeat the Kings in seven games in the first round. Asked if playing a fast-paced game against the Ducks might have prepared the Kings for the pace they’ll see from the Oilers, McLellan found no parallels.
“I don’t think there’s anything that sets you up for Edmonton. It’s a different monster,” McLellan said.
The Kings are better than they were last season, too, reflected in their second-highest single-season win total ever, behind only the 48 wins they earned in 2015-16. They’re deeper, but their depth will be stretched if injured forwards Kevin Fiala (72 points) and Gabe Vilardi (23 goals) aren’t ready to return. The duo’s status is being kept top secret, per unbreakable NHL custom.
McLellan has been equally reluctant to divulge whether he will pick Joonas Korpisalo or Pheonix Copley to start in goal in the opener, but his decision Thursday to break the goalie rotation and start Korpisalo over Copley likely was made to give Korpisalo extra work that should keep him sharp for Game 1 at Edmonton. The Kings didn’t learn the schedule for their first two games until after they’d boarded their bus for the trip home on the northbound 5 Freeway. As of Thursday night, the NHL had released the dates for only the first two games of each series.
McLellan again tap-danced around the goalie question Thursday. “I think we have a pretty good idea of who it’s going to be, but the luxury we have is the other guy and the ability to make a change if needed, to alternate, if we select that route,” he said. “Both goaltenders have played very well for us.”
They’ll have to be better than that against the Oilers.
“Obviously, if you’re going to make a run you’ve got to go through teams like that and players like that,” said shutdown defenseman Mikey Anderson, who will see a lot of McDavid on the ice and in his dreams.
The key for the Kings is how to prevent the series from turning into a nightmare.
“This is the most fun part of the year, and especially going back to last year it was the first playoffs for a lot of guys and for myself, too, in a while,” said right wing Adrian Kempe, who recorded a hat trick Thursday to finish with 41 goals and become the first King to hit 40 since Luc Robitaille in the 1993-94 season.
“This is what you play for and I think everybody’s really excited here,” Kempe said. “Obviously, from what happened last year we want to come back and beat them, so we’re all pretty excited.”
While the Kings look forward to the playoffs, the Ducks can look forward to having the best odds in the NHL draft lottery, with generational forward Connor Bedard the prize. The Ducks, who finished last among 32 teams and had a staggering -129 goal differential, will have a 25.5% chance of drafting first and claiming Bedard. They can drop no lower than third.
Dallas Eakins, who will not return to the Ducks after the team announced Friday morning his contract would not be renewed, said Thursday night he was still sorting out his feelings at the end of a dreadful season. “It’s sadness. It’s frustration. There’s a number of things that we’re very proud of. There’s a lot that just comes in waves,” he said.
While the Ducks scatter for the off-season, the Kings will resume practice on Saturday to prepare for the real season that follows a six-month rehearsal. “I think that we’re in a good spot,” said winger Trevor Moore, who scored the Kings’ third goal Thursday to give them a 3-1 lead. “We’ve been doing it for 82 games now and I feel like we know what we’re doing.”
Starting Monday, they’ll be challenged to prove it.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
