The Kings will open the Stanley Cup playoffs Monday evening against the Edmonton Oilers at Crypto.com Arena after tying franchise records for victories and points in the regular season.
The Kings’ 105 points in 82 games matched the record set in the 80-game 1974-75 season while the 48 victories tied the record set in 82-game 2015-16 season.
The Kings had the NHL’s best home record, 31-6-4, setting franchise records for home victories, and home points, 66. The previous record for home victories was 26, first set in the 80-game 1990-91 season, and matched in 2005-06, 2015-16 and 2022-23 seasons, all 82 games.
The previous record for home points was 57, set in the 1990-91 season and matched in the 2014-15 season.
This is the fourth consecutive year these teams have met in the playoffs. Edmonton won each of the previous three meetings and had the home-ice advantage. The Kings have home ice this season, thanks to their 48-25-9 record and second-place finish in the eight-team Pacific Division.
This is the first time since 2016 the Kings have had the home-ice advantage in a playoff series.
The Oilers were third in the division with 48-29-5 record for 101 points.
This is the second time the same pair of teams have met in the playoffs for four consecutive years in the NHL’s expansion era, which began in the 1967-68 season. The other pair were the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens, who met each year from 1984-87.
The Kings were 3-1-0 against Edmonton in the regular season, winning both games at Crypto.com Arena and 5-0 last Monday in Edmonton.
Goaltender Darcy Kuemper will start for the Kings. His 2.02 goals against average was the second-lowest in the league behind Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck, who had a 2.00 average.
Kuemper will be making his first playoff appearance since June 26, 2022 when he made 22 saves in the Colorado Avalanche’s Stanley Cup-clinching 2-1 Game 6 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Kuemper left the Avalanche via free agency 17 days after they won the Stanley Cup, signing with the Washington Capitals. Washington missed the playoffs in Kuemper’s first season with the team. The Capitals started Charlie Lindgren in all four of their playoff games in the 2023-24 season.
The Kings re-acquired Kuemper on June 19, 2024, in exchange for center Pierre-Luc Dubois. On July 1, 2017,
Kuemper played 19 games for the Kings in the 2017-18 season, then was traded to the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 21, 2018, in exchange for goaltender Scott Wedgewood and forward Tobias Rieder.
Kuemper will be facing the league’s leading goal-scorer and third-leading scorer, Leon Draisaitl, and sixth-leading scorer Connor McDavid.
Draisaitl missed Oilers’ final six regular-season games, including two against the Kings, because of a lower-body injury suffered in a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks April 3. McDavid was held out of last Monday’s game because of what the team said were precautionary reasons.
The Kings have not won a playoff series since the 2014 Stanley Cup Final.
The 7 p.m. game will be televised by ESPN2 and FanDuel Sports Network West.