While the Edmonton Oilers’ first-round matchup isn’t set in stone, it’s more than likely going to be the Los Angeles Kings.
It will be the fourth consecutive postseason where the two teams have met in the first round, but there may be a twist this time. As it stands, the Kings would earn home-ice advantage as they have two more points than the Oilers with one fewer game played.
Things could change in that regard, but when it’s all said and done, the Oilers and Kings will have round four in the opening round of the playoffs. In the next two editions of Throwback Thursday, we’ll look at the two teams’ matchups in the postseason. This edition will look at the matchups in the 1980s and 1990s.
1981-82 postseason
Joining the National Hockey League in 1979-80, the Oilers immediately got experience in the postseason. They fell in three games to the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1980 postseason, but swept the Montréal Canadiens in the 1981 postseason before falling in six games to the New York Islanders.
That leads us to the 1982 postseason and a division semifinals matchup against the Kings. On Apr. 7, 1982, the Kings and Oilers played the highest-scoring game in postseason history as they combined for 18 goals, with the Kings winning 10-8. Game 2 saw far less scoring, as Wayne Gretzky scored the overtime goal for the 3-2 win.
The high scoring returned in Game 3, as the Oilers jumped out to a 5-0 lead heading into the third period. Then, the Miracle on Manchester happened, as the Kings scored five third-period goals to tie the game and force it to overtime, where Daryl Evans scored the game-winning goal.
Game 4 was another close one, as the Oilers won it 3-2 thanks to goals from Jari Kurri, Pat Hughes, and Glenn Anderson, setting up a decisive Game 5. At one point, the Kings led 7-2 early in the third period, but the Oilers scored twice to at least make it interesting. However, the Kings won the game and moved on to the next round.
1984-85 postseason
The two teams didn’t meet again in the next two postseasons. In the 1983 post-season, the Oilers fell in four games to the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup Finals. They got their revenge the following postseason, defeating the Islanders in five games, ending the Islanders’ dynasty and kick-starting their dynasty.
In the 1985 postseason, the two teams matched up for the second time. Game 1 saw the game go to overtime, but Lee Fogolin Jr. found the overtime goal to put the Oilers up 1-0. The second game was also close, as it was 3-2 until Kurri scored an empty netter for the Oilers to take a commanding 2-0 series lead.
As you can imagine, Game 3 was another close one as the series shifted to Los Angeles. The Kings scored two third-period goals to send the game into overtime, but it only took Glenn Anderson 46 seconds to bury the game and series winner.
This started a run of dominance against the Kings in the postseason, but also led to back-to-back Stanley Cups for the Oilers.
1986-87 postseason
The Oilers missed out on the three-peat, as they fell to the Flames in seven games in the 1986 postseason. However, they were back at it the following season, winning the Presidents’ Trophy for a second consecutive year.
They had another first-round matchup against the Kings (obviously). The Kings won the first game 5-2, but that’s all they’d win. Game 2 saw the most goals for one team in a postseason game, as the Oilers smashed the Kings 13-3 to even up the series.
The next three games were close, with the Oilers defeating the Kings 6-5 in Game 3, followed by a 6-3 win in Game 4. With the series returning to Edmonton for Game 5, the two teams traded goals until the Oilers took a 5-3 lead. The Kings scored a goal with just over four minutes left, but it wasn’t enough as they fell 5-4 and lost another series against the Oilers.
In the Stanley Cup Finals, the Oilers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games to win their third Stanley Cup in four years.
1988-89 postseason
The 1989 postseason was the last time the Kings defeated the Oilers in the postseason. As you know, the Oilers won the 1988 Stanley Cup for their fourth Stanley Cup in five seasons but controversially traded Wayne Gretzky in the off-season.
Of course, the Oilers still had Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Kevin Lowe, Jari Kurri, and others and finished third in the Smythe Division, behind the Calgary Flames and Kings. The Oilers opened the first-round series with a 4-3 win, with Craig Simpson scoring the late game-winning goal.
Los Angeles responded with a 5-4 win in Game 2, but the Oilers shut out the Kings 4-0 in Game 3, followed by a 4-3 win in Game 4 thanks to Steve Smith’s goal with 26 seconds left in the game.
Up three games to one in the best-of-seven series, it looked as if the Oilers were going to coast to another first-round win against the Kings, but they had other plans.
Game 5 saw the Kings double up the Oilers 4-2, followed by a 4-1 win in Edmonton to set up the winner-takes-all Game 7. Gretzky scored an early goal, but Jari Kurri answered about four minutes later with a goal of his own. The teams traded goals, but the Kings took a 4-3 lead into the third period. Dale Degray took a 5-3 lead, and Gretzky iced it with an empty-netter.
The good news is that the Kings fell in the second round. The bad news is that they fell to the Calgary Flames, who went on to win the 1989 Stanley Cup.
1989-90 postseason
After Gretzky’s departure and victory over the Oilers, it looked as if their dynasty had come to an end, but that wasn’t the case just yet.
For the first time in history, the Kings and Oilers met outside the first round. The Oilers defeated the Winnipeg Jets in seven games, while the Kings upset the reigning champions in six games to set up a division finals matchup.
Game 1 set the tone for the series, as the Oilers blew out the Kings 7-0 to take a series lead. The Kings scored in Game 2, but fell 6-1 to fall to 2-0 in the series. They showed a little bit more fight when the series shifted to Los Angeles, falling 5-4 in Game 3, with the Oilers getting a chance to clinch the series in Game 4.
The game was tied at five after the third period thanks to Esa Tikkanen’s game-tying goal with just 2:55 left. In the first overtime period, Oilers’ Joe Murphy scored to eliminate the Kings from the postseason.
In the next series, the Oilers defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in six games and then defeated the Boston Bruins in five games to win their fifth and final Stanley Cup.
1990-91 postseason
Despite never winning another Stanley Cup (hopefully that changes in 2025), some of the remnants of the dynasty remained, namely Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Kevin Lowe, and Grant Fuhr. Therefore, the Oilers made the postseason.
In the first round, the Oilers defeated the Calgary Flames in seven games, while the Kings defeated the Vancouver Canucks in six games to set up a second-round matchup for the second consecutive season.
There were a whole lot of overtime games in the series. Game 1 was hosted in Los Angeles, with Luc Robitaille scoring the overtime winner to put the Kings up 1-0. The second game went to double overtime, with Petr Klíma finding the game-winning goal.
Game 2 also went to double overtime, as Esa Tikkanen scored early in that period for the Oilers’ 4-3 win and 2-1 series lead. They went up 3-1 in the series thanks to a 4-2 win in Game 4, but the Kings stayed alive with a 5-2 win in Game 5.
Shockingly, Game 6 also went to overtime as the two teams were deadlocked at three after 60 minutes. Craig MacTavish found the game-winning goal with just over three minutes left in the first overtime period to send the Oilers to the Conference Finals.
Sadly, their run came to an end after that, as they lost in six games to the Minnesota North Stars, who eventually fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals.
1991-92 postseason
The 1991-92 Oilers roster is almost unrecognizable from their dynasty years. Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr, and Paul Coffey were all gone, but the Oilers found a way to make the postseason.
As per usual, they met up with the Kings, this time in the first round. The Oilers opened the scoring in that series thanks to their leading scorer the regular season, Vincent Damphousse. Brian Glynn added two more goals, as the Oilers defeated the Kings 3-1.
Game 2 was a barnburner, as the two teams scored a combined 13 goals, with former Oilers Paul Coffey, Marty McSorley, Charlie Huddy, and Jari Kurri all scoring for the Kings. With the series shifting to Edmonton, the Oilers went into the third period down 3-2, but goals from Joe Murphy and Bernie Nicholls won the Oilers the game by a score of 4-3.
The fourth game finished with the same score, but this time in favour of the Kings. Edmonton had a 2-1 lead heading into the third period, but Paul Coffey scored twice, and Robitaille also added a goal in the 4-3 victory for the Kings.
In Game 5, Esa Tikkanen scored an early second-period goal to open the scoring, but Gretzky fired back with two goals of his own to give the Kings a 2-1 lead heading into the third period. It was all the Oilers from there, though, as Damphousse, Tikkanen (twice), and Bernie Nicholls scored to propel the Oilers to a 5-2 win.
Josef Beránek scored one minute and 39 seconds into Game 6, which turned out to be the game-winning goal. Murphy added an insurance goal and Martin Gélinas put the game out of reach in the second period as the Oilers won the game 3-0 and the series 4-2.
It took another three decades for the two teams to match up again in the postseason, but we’ll cover that in next week’s Throwback Thursday.
