Star-studded Pacific Division rival awaits Knights in 2nd round

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Golden Knights and the Oilers will meet again.

The Pacific Division rivals will clash in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time in three seasons after both teams won Game 6 of their respective series on Thursday.

The Knights eliminated the Minnesota Wild with a 3-2 win at Xcel Energy Center, while the Oilers rattled off four straight wins over the Los Angeles Kings, capped with a 6-4 win at Rogers Place.

The teams split the four-game season series.

A limited number of single-game tickets for the second round will go on sale at 1 p.m. Friday at vegasgoldenknights.com.

This is a rematch of the 2023 second-round series that the Knights won in six games.

Edmonton and the Knights split the first two games in T-Mobile Arena before the Knights won 5-1 in Game 3 at Rogers Place. Goaltender Adin Hill replaced the injured Laurent Brossoit and stopped all 24 shots in the win.

It began Hill’s stretch as the Knights’ starter during their run to the Stanley Cup.

After losing 4-1 in Game 4 to tie the series 2-2, the Knights answered with a 4-3 win in Game 5. Former right wing Jonathan Marchessault recorded a natural hat trick in the clinching 5-2 win in Game 6.

The Oilers, the defending Western Conference champions, rallied from a 2-0 series deficit to eliminate the Kings in the first round for the fourth consecutive postseason.

Edmonton’s defense and goaltending were letdowns early against the Kings, allowing 12 goals and dropping the first two games at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

The Oilers turned to goaltender Calvin Pickard in place of incumbent starter Stuart Skinner and it turned the series around. Los Angeles was held to eight goals in the next three games.

The Kings squandered third-period leads in Games 3 and 4. Edmonton scored four times in the third to win 7-4 in Game 3, then twice in Game 4 including defenseman Evan Bouchard’s game-tying goal with 29 seconds left.

Star center Leon Draisaitl scored the game-winner 1:42 into the extra frame.

Edmonton also got back into the series behind their superstar tandem of centers Connor McDavid and Draisaitl.

McDavid, last season’s Conn Smythe Trophy winner for playoff MVP despite the Oilers losing to the Florida Panthers in seven games in the Stanley Cup Final, has 11 points through one round.

Draisaitl, this season’s “Rocket” Richard trophy winner for a league-high 52 goals, is a finalist for the Hart Trophy for league MVP.

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.