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The Los Angeles Kings are in for another long offseason after being defeated by the Edmonton Oilers in the first-round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third consecutive time.
It took just five games for the Oilers to eliminate the Kings in 2024. Last season, the first-round series between the two clubs went six games, while in 2022 it took until Game 7 to decide a winner.
Kings coach Jim Hiller kept it simple when asked about what the difference was this time around.
“It’s a pretty simple write-up on this one: You saw one team execute and one team not on special teams,” the interim head coach explained, per ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. “That was the difference. If we had performed well, we’d still be playing. …When you evaluate the series, it was our inability to score on the power play and their ability to score on the power play.”
It’s no secret that special teams was the difference in the series. The Oilers, led by Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman, scored a ridiculous eight times on 20 powerplay chances. The Kings with the man advantage? 0-for-12.
“Special teams hurt us a lot in this series,” Kings captain Anze Kopitar reflected. “There were parts of the games where we were good, but you have to do it more often. Definitely a disappointing feeling for the third year in a row. Just sucks right now. Obviously not a great feeling getting the worst of it [against Edmonton] three years in a row.”
Kings just can’t solve Oilers
Every season, it seems to be Oilers-Kings in Round 1. And every year, it’s the Canadian club sending the Californians packing. Edmonton is a powerhouse, there’s no doubt, but every year it seems that Los Angeles is less capable of containing the star power.
“Yes, they have an amazing power play. They threw a lot of things against us,” two-time Stanley Cup champion Drew Doughty admitted. “But I think a lot of those goals were preventable. With a better PK, I think the series could have been … we would have taken it deeper, for sure.”
The Oilers scored at least one powerplay goal in every game in the series, and have one in 15 of their last 17, per Wyshynski. It’s another eye-opening stat, and highlights even more the disparity in special teams in Round 1.
But Edmonton’s penalty kill not allowing a single goal is maybe just as impressive, and was certainly of utmost importance as well.
“The penalty kill not giving up a goal, that’s really impressive,” said captain McDavid, who leads the playoffs with 12 points in five games. “I think of the penalty kill in the third period of Game 4. Everybody on the kill was moving their feet, doing their job and sacrificing their bodies, which is not the most fun thing to do.”
The Oilers now move on to play the winner of the Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators, who will play Game 6 in Tennessee on Friday night. The Canucks lead the series 3-2.
For the Kings, there could be changes coming as the franchise remains without a series win since capturing the 2014 Stanley Cup a decade ago. It’ll be intriguing to see what route the front office goes in the final few seasons of Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty.
More must-reads:
- Former Red Wings head coach linked to open NHL job
- Watch: Chris Kreider's natural third-period hat trick shatters Hurricanes' comeback hopes
- The 'Most career 40-point playoff games' quiz
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