Could be ousted in Edmonton on Thursday despite holding 2-0 series lead
© Andy Devlin/NHLI
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Kings need to regroup quickly to avoid being eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference First Round for the fourth consecutive season.
Things can change rapidly in the Stanley Cup Playoffs; a 2-0 lead in this best-of-7 series has become a 3-2 deficit for the Kings following a 3-1 loss in Game 5 at Crypto.Com Arena on Tuesday.
Game 6 is at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, TVAS2, ESPN, FDSNW). If necessary, Game 7 would be played here on Saturday.
“We’ve had a pretty good season to this point, guys have put in a massive effort thus far. We have to win a game,” Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller said. “I know it’s a cliché and it doesn’t look very good, but we have to go in and win a hockey game. They took it away from us. We have to go win a hockey game and take it back. That’s the way it goes — there are no tricks here.
“We’ve proven we’re a pretty good hockey team, so if you’re a pretty good hockey team, go in there and take it back.”
The Kings were left searching for answers after being soundly outplayed by the Oilers in Game 5. Had it not been for goalie Darcy Kuemper, the outcome would not have been in doubt for as long as it was into the third period.
Edmonton outshot Los Angeles 19-4 in the first period, 14-8 in the second, and 46-22 overall. Kuemper finished with 43 saves and did not concede the winning goal until 7:12 of the third, when Oilers forward Mattias Janmark scored on a rebound for a 2-1 lead.
“Our goaltender gave us a chance, but they were just better in every way,” Hiller said. “We can’t just look at one part of our game and think that was acceptable or was good enough.”
Andrei Kuzmenko gave the Kings the lead with a power-play goal at 3:33 of the second, but Evander Kane tied it 1-1 for the Oilers at 6:16, bouncing a shot in off the skate of Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored an empty-net goal at 19:02 of the third for the 3-1 final.
Oilers at Kings | Recap | Round 1, Game 5
“Usually if we’re off in the first period, we come out better in the second,” Los Angeles defenseman Joel Edmundson said. “That just didn’t happen tonight. We weren’t connected all over the ice and we were definitely getting frustrated.”
Game 5 looked like a continuation of the third period and overtime in Game 4. The Oilers outshot the Kings 16-6 in the third on Sunday and battled back from a 3-1 deficit. Edmonton then outshot Los Angeles 17-7 in overtime with Leon Draisaitl winning it at 18:18.
“I’m not worried about shots so much as the quality of chances,” Hiller said. “Tonight, they got shots and quality of chances. In the overtime [in Game 4], they had quality chances, but prior to that we were on it, and we have to get back on it.”
The Kings have been playing predominately with three lines and four defensemen for most of the series, but captain Anze Kopitar said fatigue did not play a role in Game 5.
“No, I think guys are feeling good — we’re getting rest day and all that,” Kopitar said. “It’s not a factor. Obviously everybody is frustrated, but we have to put it behind us. We got to go win a game on the road and that’s what we’re going to focus on.
“We couldn’t get anything going. The shot clock was pretty evident; we didn’t sustain any [offensive]-zone time and when you don’t have that, it’s hard to string shifts together and gain some momentum. We’re going to look at some stuff and makes sure we do a lot better job [in Game 6].”
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🔹Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings
The Kings did not expect to be on the brink of elimination after winning Games 1 and 2 here by 6-5 and 6-2 scores. They were in a good position to win Game 3, up 4-3 in the third, but gave up the tying and winning goals 10 seconds apart after an unsuccessful coach’s challenge in a 7-4 loss.
“It’s do-or-die for us; there is not much to say,” Edmundson said. “If we want to win, we eventually have to win some road games. It’s a huge game for us. … Tomorrow is a new day, and we’ll go up to Edmonton and try and win that game.”
Edmonton and Los Angeles are facing each other for the fourth consecutive season in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Oilers won the previous three series, but the Kings had home-ice advantage for the first time this season and the belief they were good enough to finally solve Edmonton.
They still can.
With another strong effort from Kuemper, who was named a Vezina Trophy finalist Monday, along with Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning, anything is possible.
“He’s given us confidence all year, for sure,” Edmundson said. “We don’t want to rely on him too much, but he’s there, he’s making unbelievable saves and they could have a lot more goals in this series if it wasn’t for him.”
