Kings vs. Oilers: Los Angeles' first-round Stanley Cup playoffs 'curse' meets its latest test - ESPN

The Los Angeles Kings ' hunt for their third Stanley Cup starts in the same place as every other team in the playoffs — the first round.

History, though, isn't on the Kings' side. In Los Angeles' past five postseason showings — and since winning the Stanley Cup in 2014 — it has exited in the first round.

The No. 2-seeded Kings are facing the third-seeded Edmonton Oilers, but Edmonton holds a 3-2 lead going into Game 6 (7:20 p.m. ET, ESPN.) It's win or go home time for Los Angeles. In their last three appearances, the Kings were dispatched by the Oilers each time.

The first-round series against the Oilers makes it the second time since the expansion era (the 1967-68 season) that two teams have met in the opening round of four straight postseasons, joining the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens from 1984 to 1987, according to ESPN Research.

History is also at stake. If the Kings don't find a way to stop their postseason drought against the Oilers, Edmonton could become the fourth team in the expansion era to win a series in four consecutive postseasons against a single opponent.

However, the Kings still have a chance to break their first-round curse.

Here is how Los Angeles fared in its past five first-round postseason appearances.

Year: 2016 First round opponent: San Jose Sharks

The Kings had a promising start in the series, holding a better record than the Sharks in the regular season. Jake Muzzin struck the series off for Los Angeles with the first goal of the series, but penalties held the Kings back from capitalizing against the Sharks.

San Jose defeated Los Angeles in five games. Los Angeles earned its lone victory in the series after a Tanner Pearson goal in overtime of Game 3. The Kings lost each game by one