Edmonton Oilers kick off Stanley Cup Playoffs Monday in Los Angeles
For the fourth year in a row, the Edmonton Oilers will be facing the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and now we know when the quest for Lord Stanley's coveted trophy will kick off for the Orange and Blue.
Given the Los Angeles Lakers are taking up residence at the Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night in NBA action, Game 1 in the Oilers-Kings matchup will go Monday, April 21, at 8 p.m. Mountain.
Game 2 will be Wednesday, also at 8 p.m., with the series returning to Edmonton for Game 3 on Friday at 8 p.m.
Game 4 goes Sunday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m.
No word yet on any watch party plans by the Oilers for road games, or outdoor viewings for home games.
Playoff action gets underway Saturday, with the Blues-Jets series kicking off in Winnipeg at 4 p.m. Edmonton time, and the Avalanche and Stars facing off at 6:30 p.m.
Best thing about the Edmonton Oilers regular season: It's finally over
Warren Foegele is on other side of fence now in Edmonton Oilers-Los Angeles Kings playoff battle
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Kane redeems himself, ties the game, 1-1 From the Edmonton blueline, defenseman Evan Bouchard quickly headmanned the puck to Viktor Arvidsson, who turned it to a flying Evander Kane. Kane, named after 1990s world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, punched the Panthers the face with a whistling left circle wrister over Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky's glove and off the right post. Advertisement Tie game, 1-1, 7:39 into the first. Panthers win the first shift, take a 1-0 lead The Panthers altered first line produced a scoring chance, Sam Reinhart from between the circles, less than 10 seconds into the game. Edmonton's Evander Kane reached back to deflect Reinhart's shot over the net, but took an offensive zone penalty 37 seconds into the game when he high sticked Carter Verhaeghe while finishing a check. Kane helped establish Edmonton's physical play in Game 1. On the Panthers power play, Sam Bennett mishit a one-timer off a pass from Nate Schmidt, but got enough for it to get by goalie Stuart Skinner 2:07 into the game. An infuriated Oilers bench wanted a penalty on Bennett, who, while turning to get into position for Schmidt's pass, skated Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm's dropped stick away from him. Advertisement Panthers 1, Edmonton 0, as Bennett's 13th goal of this year's playoffs gave him an NHL single-playoff record 12 on the road and ended an Oilers run of scoring first in nine consecutive games. Moving people pieces For Game 2, Panthers coach Paul Maurice moved Carter Verhaeghe to left wing with center Aleksander Barkov and right wing Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues down to the second line with Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk. This puts three of the top four regular season scorers on the first line and adds even more bang and jam to Bennett's line, where Tkachuk's been laboring akin to a wounded bull throughout the playoffs. Maurice did this in the second period of Eastern Conference Final Game 5, when the Panthers trailed Carolina 2-0. The Panthers stormed back to clinch the series with a 5-3 win, Verhaeghe getting the game winner off a dazzling Barkov stickhandle-and-dish play. Getting back on the cycle A chart by NHL Network from stats by Sportlogiq said the Panthers ground out an 11-4 advantage in scoring chances off the offensive zone cycle in Game 1, 6-3 in slot shots and 5-2 in forechecking chances. That begat the Panthers first goal, Carter Verhaeghe's shot bouncing in off Sam Bennett as the center sprawled in the crease, as well as solid control of the second period and first minutes of overtime. Series schedule ▪ Game 1 — Oilers 4, Panthers 3 (overtime): The Panthers had a two-goal lead early in the second period but couldn't hold on as Edmonton tied the game early in the third and won it on a Leon Draisaitl power-play goal with 31 seconds left in overtime. Advertisement ▪ Game 2: Tonight ▪ Game 3: Monday, June 9, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Sunrise's Amerant Bank Arena ▪ Game 4: Thursday, June 12, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Sunrise's Amerant Bank Arena ▪ Game 5 (if necessary): Saturday, June 14, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Edmonton's Rogers Place ▪ Game 6 (if necessary): Tuesday, June 17, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Sunrise's Amerant Bank Arena ▪ Game 7 (if necessary): Friday, June 20, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Edmonton's Rogers Place Pregame reading Need to catch up ahead of Game 2? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald's coverage over the past few days. ▪ With margin for error thin in Cup Final, Panthers need to regroup after Game 1 overtime loss Advertisement ▪ With two goals in Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final, Sam Bennett makes Panthers history ▪ Maurice's message to Nosek after game-deciding penalty in Florida's Game 1 Cup Final loss ▪ Will Panthers make lineup changes for Game 2 of Stanley Cup Final? ▪ Joining the Florida Panthers 'revitalized' Seth Jones. The next goal: Win a Stanley Cup
