Los Angeles and Edmonton meet in the playoffs a year removed from their seven-game clash last season. McDavid was a huge part of the Oilers winning that series, and our NHL picks expect him to be the team's offensive focal point once again.
McDavid, as you probably know, absolutely torched the league this season with 64 goals and 153 points. The Oilers' captain didn’t necessarily dominate the Kings this time around, though, recording two goals and an assist in four meetings with no multi-point outings.
Nevertheless, McDavid rolls into the playoffs on another hot streak as he’s found the score sheet in 16 straight games while amassing 29 points and nine multi-point outings over that span. Can the Kings slow him down? Los Angeles had a stretch of elite defensive play from about February through March — though the Kings did regress in the final week of the regular season going 2-3-0 while surrendering 3.00 GPG during that span — including a 3-1 loss to the Oilers on April 4.
If L.A. is going to keep McDavid from repeating last year’s postseason performance, it’ll likely take a heroic effort in net., who likely gets the start, has had a rejuvenation between the pipes since being acquired at the trade deadline. Korpisalo posted a .921 SV% and a stingy 2.13 GAA while going 7-3-1 with the Kings this year.
Still, I don’t see Korpisalo stopping a red-hot McDavid in Game 1 of the playoffs. Given his form to close out the regular season, I’m looking for another multi-point outing from the league’s leading scorer to kick off his Cup run.
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