Los Angeles Kings clinch spot in 2026 playoffs
It did not come easily, but the Los Angeles Kings are heading back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fifth year in a row.
Thanks to their 5-3 win over the Seattle Kraken, along with the Nashville Predators losing 3-2 to the San Jose Sharks, the Kings are one of six NHL teams to have qualified for the postseason in each of the last five years. Of those six, Los Angeles is the only one to not have a series win during the previous four, a distinction they’ll look to shed this time around.
The big story of the season in Los Angeles has been the farewell tour of franchise legend Anze Kopitar, who has 36 points in 64 games as he winds down one of the most decorated careers for a two-way center in recent history.
The Kings made a contender-level addition to their roster just before the Olympic break when they acquired Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers. It was a bold move that was desperately needed to add offensive flair to a lineup that struggled to produce, and Panarin has delivered with 26 points in 23 games played as a King.
Unfortunately, the boost to the offense was dampened shortly after the trade when Kevin Fiala went down for the season when he suffered a leg injury while representing Team Switzerland at the Olympics.
Still, Los Angeles has gotten the job done down the stretch to earn the West’s second wild card spot over the Predators, Sharks and Winnipeg Jets, who all made their own respective pushes over the past two months.
The Kings are going to face an uphill battle to snap their streak of making the playoffs before getting ousted in the first round, as they will draw the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche in the first round.
The Avs themselves boast just one playoff series win in the past three years since winning the 2022 Stanley Cup, but they have looked a cut above the rest of the NHL for the entirety of this season.
If the Kings can pull off the upset, they’d join the likes of their own 2012 team, the 2019 Columbus Blue Jackets and 2023 Florida Panthers as teams to knock the Presidents’ Trophy winners out in the first round.