Viktor Arvidsson will again be out of the lineup as the Los Angeles Kings take on the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Arvidsson missed the Kings’ last game of the season back on April 28, and he was out of the lineup when Los Angeles won Game 1 of the series against the Oilers on Monday. The reason that Arvidsson has been out of the lineup remains unclear.
After spending the first seven seasons of his career with the Nashville Predators, the Kings acquired Arvidsson last summer ahead of the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft. He scored 20 goals and 49 points over the course of 66 games with the Kings while logging 16:59 per game.
Arvidsson spent most of his time this season on the Kings’ second line alongside Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore. Alex Iafallo is now playing on that line in his place, while Andreas Athanasiou is playing on Los Angeles’ top line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe.
The Kings have a 1-0 series lead over the Oilers after winning Game 1 by a score of 4-3. That win was Los Angeles’ first playoff victory since April 2016, as the Kings were swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in their most recent playoff appearance in 2018.
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