Oilers host Los Angeles Kings on Monday in Game 1 of playoffs
The National Hockey League has confirmed the schedule for the first four Edmonton Oilers playoff games.
The Oilers will take on the Los Angeles Kings with home ice advantage at Rogers Place on Monday at 8 p.m. MT.
The Kings will stay in Edmonton for Game 2 of the series on Wednesday at 8 p.m.
The Oilers will travel to Los Angeles to play the Kings for Game 3 on April 26 at 8:30 p.m.
Game 4 will also be held in Los Angeles on April 28 at 8:30 p.m.
Games 5, 6, and 7 will be held on May 1, 3, and 5 if required.
This is the third year the Oilers have faced the Kings in the first round.
While hopes were high for the Oilers heading into the season, the team lost several games, winding up in the bottom of the league.
"If you would have told us back in November that this team would be second in the division facing the Kings again, being considered a cup contender after all the tumultuous things that went on in October and November, it's pretty incredible," sports talk host Tom Gazzola said Friday.
"But it's always a wild ride with the Oilers. This team is just full of drama. And I think we wouldn't want it any other way. Because if it was boring, then it wouldn't be as fun."
With a major comeback, including a record-breaking winning streak over the winter, Gazzola says the team is well positioned headed into the playoffs.
"This team might be even better than it was in 2022, than it was in 2023."
"The depth that it has, the Stanley Cup pedigree with Corey Perry, you have Evander Kane, who can be a difference maker. It just depends on, you know, if he's healthy, if he shows up, and then Zach Hyman, a 50 goal scorer, Connor McDavid, 100."
Gazzola expects the hype around the team will be as strong as ever in Oil Country.
"Yes, Oil Country will be ready. Yes, the mosh pit will be buzzing. Yes, the other parties will be going. Parties, barbecues, beers, and chips and pop all that good stuff."
"This is the best time of the year in our city and the playoffs just makes it that much more magical. So Oil Country's ready for another run."
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
'What have we done?' Lawyer describes shock at possible role in Trump's 2016 victory
A lawyer who negotiated a pair of hush money deals at the centre of Donald Trump's criminal trial recalled Thursday his "gallows humor" reaction to Trump's 2016 election victory and the realization that his hidden-hand efforts might have contributed to the win.
Conservative MP says Chinese hacking attack targeted his personal email
A Conservative MP is challenging claims by House of Commons administration that a China-backed hacking attempt did not impact any members of Parliament, because the attack was on his personal email.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Loblaw leaders call criticism 'misguided,' say they aren't to blame for high food prices
Loblaw chairman Galen Weston and the company's new CEO are pushing back against critics who blame the grocery giant for soaring food prices, as a month-long boycott of the retailer gets underway.
Orangutan observed treating wound using medicinal plant in world first
Scientists working in Indonesia have observed an orangutan intentionally treating a wound on their face with a medicinal plant, the first time this behavior has been documented.
'Giant-killer' Kazushi Kimura to race in Kentucky Derby this weekend: 'I'm representing Canada and Japan'
Six years ago, at age 18, Kazushi Kimura left his home and family behind in Hokkaido, Japan to chase a dream. This weekend, he'll ride in the Kentucky Derby.
President Joe Biden calls Japan and India 'xenophobic' nations that do not welcome immigrants
President Joe Biden has called Japan and India “xenophobic” countries that do not welcome immigrants, lumping the two with adversaries China and Russia as he tried to explain their economic circumstances and contrasted the four with the U.S. on immigration.