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NHL insider reveals 2 Oilers the Los Angeles Kings will target in the playoffs
Photo credit: Imagn Images
The Edmonton Oilers are heading into a close and critical first round playoff series against LA for the fourth time, and one NHL insider believes the Kings will specifically target Darnell Nurse and Stuart Skinner.
The Kings are being given a slight favourite's title with a 50.2% chance to win the series according to NHL analysts, making the highly talented Oilers a shocking underdog.
NHL insider highlights 2 Oilers the Los Angeles Kings will be trying to target
The Oilers two major question marks around their roster is the loss of Mattias Ekholm and general injuries, as well as the goaltending from Stuart Skinner.
On the most recent edition of 32 Thoughts, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman specifically highlighted Darnell Nurse as a player that needs to excel - and Stuart Skinner needs to hold the fort in a battle against a quality goalie in Darcy Kuemper on the other side.
The Ekholm loss is a huge loss. I think this is massive for Nurse. For a lot of this season, he was very good. One of his best seasons.
The other thing about Nurse is he has to keep his calm. He has shown he can lose his temper. I think there's no doubt the Kings are going to try to get under his skin, get him to do something that gets him in trouble with the league.
Skinner - that's a big one. One of the biggest edges the Kings seem to have is in goal.
- Elliotte Friedman
The other thing about Nurse is he has to keep his calm. He has shown he can lose his temper. I think there's no doubt the Kings are going to try to get under his skin, get him to do something that gets him in trouble with the league.
Skinner - that's a big one. One of the biggest edges the Kings seem to have is in goal.
- Elliotte Friedman
The loss of Ekholm will put much more pressure on Nurse and Walman to step up to the challenge. Nurse in particular will be asked to continue his great run of play in the hardest conditions - we'll have to see if he can live up to the test.
Again, if the Oilers are going to defy the odds against them in this series, they're going to get great performances off the backs of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
The superstars are capable of stealing a series, and they've proven to be impossible to bet against. Hopefully they can lead the team past the LA Kings for the fourth straight year.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 20 | 698 ANSWERS NHL insider reveals 2 Oilers the Los Angeles Kings will target in the playoffs Do you think the Kings will target Darnell Nurse? | ||
| Yes | 518 | 74.2 % |
| No | 180 | 25.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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