This was the first Smythe Division Final since 1982 not to have either the Calgary Flames or the Edmonton Oilers. The Vancouver Canucks, who easily won the regular season Smythe Division title, were strong favourites over the Kings. Vancouver's 5–2 win in Game 1 did nothing to change that. Kings head coach Barry Melrose re-inserted Kelly Hrudey as the Kings' starting goaltender in Game 2 and he responded with a strong effort as the Kings evened the series with a 6–3 win. After the teams split the two games in Los Angeles, they headed back to Vancouver for the crucial Game 5. Kings forward Gary Shuchuk scored on a rebound during a goal mouth scramble late in the second overtime and the Kings skated off the ice in front of a stunned Vancouver home crowd with a 3–2 series lead. Back in Los Angeles for Game 6, the Canucks did not recover as the Kings jumped out to a 5–2 lead and won the series despite a late Canuck goal.
This was the only time during this era (1982–1993) that a Canadian team did not advance to the Conference Final representing the Smythe Division. This was the first playoff series between the teams since the 1991 Smythe Division Semifinals.
| May 2 | Los Angeles Kings | 2–5 | Vancouver Canucks | Pacific Coliseum | Recap | |||
| Mike Donnelly (3) – 07:02 | First period | 05:22 – pp – Dixon Ward (1) 13:45 – Dana Murzyn (2) 19:44 – pp – Geoff Courtnall (2) | ||||||
| Wayne Gretzky (3) – pp – 03:10 | Second period | 12:50 – Gerald Diduck (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 09:48 – Dave Babych (1) | ||||||
| Robb Stauber 37 saves / 42 shots | Goalie stats | Kirk McLean 25 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| May 5 | Los Angeles Kings | 6–3 | Vancouver Canucks | Pacific Coliseum | Recap | |||
| Mark Hardy (1) – 00:19 Jari Kurri (3) – sh – 07:01 Warren Rychel (4) – 10:30 |
First period | 00:52 – pp – Greg Adams (6) 13:12 – pp – Dixon Ward (2) | ||||||
| Tony Granato (3) – 02:01 Wayne Gretzky (4) – 17:39 |
Second period | 11:45 – Pavel Bure (5) | ||||||
| Pat Conacher (4) – 04:55 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Kelly Hrudey 26 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Kirk McLean 25 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| May 7 | Vancouver Canucks | 4–7 | Los Angeles Kings | Great Western Forum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Geoff Courtnall (3) – 15:54 Anatoli Semenov (1) – 17:56 |
Second period | 12:24 – pp – Darryl Sydor (2) 19:09 – Warren Rychel (5) | ||||||
| Dave Babych (2) – pp – 11:18 Sergio Momesso (3) – 18:56 |
Third period | 04:41 – Luc Robitaille (3) 06:46 – Jari Kurri (4) 09:03 – Wayne Gretzky (5) 12:13 – Tomas Sandstrom (4) 19:59 – Wayne Gretzky (6) | ||||||
| Kirk McLean 26 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Kelly Hrudey 33 saves / 37 shots | ||||||
| May 9 | Vancouver Canucks | 7–2 | Los Angeles Kings | Great Western Forum | Recap | |||
| Dana Murzyn (3) – 11:09 | First period | 15:49 – pp – Tomas Sandstrom (5) | ||||||
| Petr Nedved (1) – 03:08 Murray Craven (3) – 10:06 Gerald Diduck (3) – 13:21 Geoff Courtnall (4) – 18:25 |
Second period | 00:27 – pp – Luc Robitaille (4) | ||||||
| Jim Sandlak (1) – 02:18 Greg Adams (7) – pp – 17:05 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Kirk McLean 29 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Kelly Hrudey 28 saves / 35 shots | ||||||
| May 11 | Los Angeles Kings | 4–3 | 2OT | Vancouver Canucks | Pacific Coliseum | Recap | ||
| Wayne Gretzky (7) – 06:22 Jari Kurri (5) – 08:15 |
First period | 05:50 – pp – Murray Craven (4) | ||||||
| Luc Robitaille (5) – 08:57 | Second period | 00:47 – Petr Nedved (2) 13:40 – pp – Trevor Linden (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gary Shuchuk – 06:31 | Second overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Kelly Hrudey 36 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Kirk McLean 40 saves / 44 shots | ||||||
| May 13 | Vancouver Canucks | 3–5 | Los Angeles Kings | Great Western Forum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 07:22 – Rob Blake (2) | ||||||
| Gerald Diduck (4) – 08:46 Jim Sandlak (2) – 11:38 |
Second period | 15:48 – pp – Jari Kurri (6) 16:05 – pp – Tomas Sandstrom (6) 17:44 – Warren Rychel (6) | ||||||
| Trevor Linden (5) – 17:05 | Third period | 08:54 – Wayne Gretzky (8) | ||||||
| Kirk McLean 45 saves / 50 shots | Goalie stats | Kelly Hrudey 25 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| Los Angeles won series 4–2 | |