The Los Angeles Kings are feeling themselves ahead of their fourth straight opening-round clash with the Edmonton Oilers.
"I think our goaltending is very solid this year. I think our D-corps became more solid this year, and I think our forwards became deeper throughout the whole lineup," veteran defenseman Drew Doughty said Sunday. "All those things make us a much better team this year, and I feel we have a lot more confidence going into it."
He added, "We believe that we're fully prepared for them. They're that good that we're still going to have to tip our hats sometimes, but we're confident that we have a lot of guys that can do the job."
The previous three postseason meetings between the Pacific Division rivals have gone the Oilers' way, but the Kings have performed better this campaign than they have in the past.
Los Angeles finished the season with four more wins and six more points than it did last year. The club ranked second in the league in goals against per game (2.48), first in expected goals against per 60 minutes (2.17), and third in save percentage (.923) at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick.
The Kings earned home-ice advantage for the first time since 2016 as a result of their efforts, which Doughty knows is a "huge bonus." Crypto.com Arena has been a difficult venue for opponents, with Los Angeles owning a 31-6-4 record in its own barn this season.
L.A. also won the regular-season series against Edmonton, going 3-1-0 while outscoring the Oilers 12-4 and shutting them out twice.
Forward Kevin Fiala echoed Doughty's sentiment, stating there's "a more positive" feeling in the locker room this time around.
"Just the belief," Fiala added. "The whole season we've been through together, I don't think I've been (on as close of a team) before. Everybody is really, really close with each other, loves each other, believes in each other, and wants to work for each other. There's no doubt about it.
"There's going to be mistakes happening, but all season (has been) up and down, and we never had it out on anybody. We always came back strong. We've been consistent like crazy this season, so hopefully we can keep it going."
The puck drops on Game 1 at 10 p.m. ET.
