Oilers vs. Kings Game 2 Information

• Date: Wednesday, April 23, 2025
• Start Time: 8:00 PM MT
• Location: Los Angeles, California
• Venue: Crypto.com Arena
• Watch: CBC/Sportsnet (Canada), TBS (USA), Sling (Stream)

Projected Line Combinations

• Oilers: If Klingberg suits up, it seems obvious that Josh Brown, who played under five minutes for the Oilers on Monday, will come out of the lineup. Trent Frederic played the fewest minutes of Edmonton’s forwards on Monday in his return from a reaggravated ankle injury. If Kane is ready to play, the Oilers could sit Frederic to make room. Another possible option to come out of the lineup is Jeff Skinner, who was a minus-two in his first NHL playoff game.
• Kings: Though allowing five goals against and nearly blowing a four-goal lead was certainly not the team’s plan in Game 1, don’t expect the Kings to make any changes following a victory. Their top three forward lines have been set for weeks, and their blueline is organized to have veterans lining up alongside youngsters. Winger Tanner Jeannot is the only injured player on Los Angeles’s roster and he could play on the fourth line when he’s ready to return.

Projected Starting Goaltenders

• Oilers: The biggest question for the Oilers heading into Game 2 is who will be their starting goaltender. Stuart Skinner allowed six goals on 30 shots in Monday’s loss for a .800 save percentage. Backup Calvin Pickard played well for Edmonton while Skinner was injured a few weeks ago, but the Oilers might not be ready to make a change this early in the series.
• Kings: Darcy Kuemper also had a rough showing in Game 1, allowing five goals on 25 shots for a .800 save percentage. Given he went 31-11-7 during the regular season with a .921 save percentage, the Kings will undoubtedly go back to the 2022 Stanley Cup winner in Game 2.

Thoughts and Notes Going into Game 2

• Losing Game 1 of a playoff series is nothing new for the Oilers. When they beat the San Jose Sharks in the first playoff series of the Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl era in 2017, they lost Game 1. When they edged out the Kings in seven games in the first round in 2022, they lost Game 1. Even when they took down the Calgary Flames in five games in the following series, they lost Game 1.
• The Oilers can erase Game 1 and go back to Edmonton in a good position if they rebound with a win in Game 2. Coming back after going down 2-0 is always an uphill climb, even with three home games on the horizon. Teams that go up 2-0 in a best-of-seven series have gone on to win that series 87.7 percent of the time in NHL history. Even if the team that goes up 2-0 falls in Game 3, teams up 2-1 in that situation have gone on to win their series 75.8 percent of the time.
• When speaking to the media on Tuesday, Connor McDavid noted that the Kings were “ready to go” heading into Game 1 and the Oilers weren’t able to match them: “I think our group may not have been quite ready to roll right away. They were ready to go,” McDavid said. “I thought their first 40 minutes were really strong, and we weren’t able to match it. We raised our game in the third period and found a way to make it a game, but we’ve got to be ready to go right away.”
• The Kings scored two goals on the power play in Game 1 and the Oilers weren’t able to capitalize on either of their opportunities with the man advantage, which was a major shift from last year’s series when Edmonton dominated Los Angeles in terms of special teams. Head coach Kris Knoblauch said on Tuesday that the Oilers need to do a better job at staying out of the penalty box: “In the previous three playoff matchups, special teams were heavily lopsided in Edmonton’s favour. I believe that we still have a very good power play. I think their power play has improved. I don’t anticipate us dominating the special teams battle like we had previously. But it definitely is our goal to come ahead, because that’ll probably be the difference in this series.”

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