It’s only January and it already feels inevitable. Looking at the Pacific Division standings, the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers are likely on yet another collision course in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Los Angeles Kings (24-12-5, in the Pacific Division ... Adrian Kempe has 20 goals and 19 assists for the Kings. Quinton Byfield has scored five goals with two assists over the past 10 games.

The Edmonton Oilers will try to keep their five-game home win streak intact when they play the Los Angeles Kings.

Los Angeles Kings (24-10-5, in the Pacific Division ... Adrian Kempe has 20 goals and 19 assists for the Kings. Quinton Byfield has scored six goals with three assists over the past 10 games.

BOTTOM LINE: The Vancouver Canucks face the Los Angeles Kings in a matchup of Pacific Division opponents. Vancouver is 19-14-10 overall with a 6-3-2 record in Pacific Division play. The Canucks have committed 168 total penalties (3.9 per game) to rank ninth in NHL play.

Byfield logged an assist and two PIM in Thursday's 5-1 win over the Canucks. Byfield ended a four-game slump when he helped out on a Warren Foegele tally in the third period. The 22-year-old Byfield had a strong second half of December,

The Los Angeles Kings wrap up their five-game road trip against the Seattle Kraken. LA are 2-2-0 on this current road trip, coming off a 5-1 victory over the

The Kings were the last NHL team to reach the midpoint of their season. Let's grade every player's contributions so far.

Darcy Kuemper has 29 saves for the Kings, but Connor McDavid scores in the second period and Stuart Skinner stops 30 shots as Edmonton takes the Pacific Division showdown, 1-0.

When two teams have played each other 31 times over the last three years and three months of this season, does familiarity breed contempt? “Nah, it’s always fun…what gets old is all the meetings before the games.

The two teams have been breathing down each other’s necks all season long, swapping places between second and third in the Pacific Division, which makes a fifth-straight post-season clash more than a little likely, looking ahead at potential playoff scenarios three months from now.

The Oilers will alter their approach by going with 11 forwards and seven defencemen on Monday night when they host the Kings in a Pacific Division battle at Rogers Place