In fact the third in what is now a trilogy stands as a great litmus test for both teams given how little separated the two teams during the first two series.
The two Pacific Division rivals have played 13 games between the two series. Although Edmonton prevailed in both series it’s also fair to say both series were there for the taking.
In the end the Oilers were the ones who did the taking. The Kings continue to seek ways to do some taking of their own starting with Game 1 Monday night in Edmonton.
“I think you’ve got to look at it as we’re a different group,” said Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson after the team’s last full practice before jetting to Edmonton Sunday. “They’re a different group too I think.”
Every playoff series is a measuring stick of a team’s evolution, an unyielding examination of how a team drafts, develops and acquires talent.
The Oilers view this third straight meeting with the Kings through a different prism given their successes. Call it ‘Stanley Cup or bust’ as some of the local media have put it.
Fair enough. But make no mistake the Kings view this series as a significant test of their own evolution.
Because, while the Kings’ roster remains for the most part familiar to those who followed the first two series, the players that make up this Los Angeles Kings roster are wholly different.
Many of these players are more mature both physically and mentally. Many of these players are going to be asked by Head Coach Jim Hiller and his staff to do different things in the coming days than they were asked to do a year ago and/or the year before that. So, while the names may be familiar, the roles and expectations for so many members of this current Kings team have changed and evolved so as to suggest an almost entirely different entity.
Two years ago Quinton Byfield played in only two of the seven games that it took the two teams to settle the matter. Last year he played in all six and had four points.
This year, coming off his first 20-goal season, Byfield will be counted on in a vastly different way.
“I think if you look at a guy like ‘Q’, he’s developed very nicely for this organization and for our team,” Arvidsson explained. “He’s been probably our most consistent player through the whole year. He had a slump at the end but he’s a young player and if you look at him as a player, he’s grown since last year when we played Edmonton. I think he can have a really positive impact on how we play.”
Byfield is not alone in hoping to play a significant role in changing the narrative of this playoff drama.
Trevor Moore has played in all 13 of the playoff games in the first two series of this trilogy collecting three goals.
But the undrafted Moore has blossomed into a legitimate NHL scoring threat leading the team with 30 goals during this regular season. He is an important part of the team’s power play configuration that will play a key role in determining success against the Oilers.
The Thousand Oaks native loves the dynamic of the playoff environment and is chomping at the bit for this next opportunity.
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