The Los Angeles Kings can’t afford to go down 0-2 to Edmonton Oilers

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to explain to a person why going down 0-2 in a playoff series is rarely a good thing. While it’s far from a kiss of death in a series, it’s rarely a good position to be in, and a very tough hole to get out of. It’s hard enough even if you drop both games on the road and are going home, but if you lose both games at home, it’s an even trickier scenario to navigate and come out ahead in.

Wednesday’s action features two teams currently down 0-1 in their series in the Dallas Stars and Los Angeles Kings, and both teams are in jeopardy of falling down 0-2 should they lose again. For the Stars, it’s far from ideal to drop both games at home, especially against the defending Stanley Cup champions in the Vegas Golden Knights. But then for the Kings, even if you’re going home, do you want to be in the position where you can only lose one more game to a team as strong as the Edmonton Oilers?

So which team is in a tougher spot if they lose Game 2? Colby Cohen and Tyler Yaremchuk answered that question on Daily Faceoff Live.

Colby Cohen: I think Los Angeles because I think Dallas has the ability to come back. I think Dallas has way more weapons offensively, they’ve got a better goaltender, they’ve got a better deeper back end.

Look, you don’t want to go down 0-2, but I think it’s over for the L.A. Kings if they go down 0-2. With Dallas, I think they could still find their way back into the series if they were down 0-2, even though they’re going to Vegas. 

Tyler Yaremchuk: Fair enough, I think I agree with that. Even though the home ice is flipped in the question, I just feel like L.A. is going to have a really hard time winning four of five against the Oilers.

You can watch the full episode here…