O KingsThe season expired on Wednesday at 10:52 p.m. Mountain Time. The cause of death was the Edmonton Oilers.
Again.
For the Kings, these Oilers have become serial killers, ending their NHL playoff hopes in the first round in each of the last three seasons. And it got easier for the Oilers over time. In 2022, they eliminated the Kings in seven games; last year they did it in six games; this time it only took five, the last a 4-3 win in Edmonton.
“It definitely feels disappointing, obviously for the third year in a row,” Kings captain Anze Kopitar said. “It sucks right now.
“It doesn’t matter, you’re out of the playoffs no matter who gets you. But it’s definitely not a good feeling to get the short end of the stick three years in a row.”
The Oiler goals came from Evander Kane in the first period and two each from Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman in the second period. Evan Bouchard had three assists and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid had two each, with McDavid’s two helpers giving him a league-best 11 in the postseason.
The Kings’ goals came from Alex Laferrièrewho scored in the final seconds of the first period, Blake Lizotewho scored in the opening minutes of the second, and Adrian Kempe, who scored in the final three minutes of the season.
Facing elimination and no room for error on Wednesday, the Kings made a bushel of it, going to the penalty box five times in the first two periods to score all three of the Oilers’ goals in the second period.
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Edmonton was ready to celebrate long before the puck dropped in Game 5. Downtown restaurants and storefronts were adorned with Oilers banners and posters, while office workers and store owners wore Oilers jerseys to work. “Go, oilers, go!” glowed on the digital destination signs on the front of city buses. Even the opioid clinic on the corner of the arena had an Oilers playoff poster taped to the windows.
Rogers Place, the team’s massive home ground, was again filled with a raucous crowd of more than 18,000; Thousands more watched on big-screen TVs in an adjacent parking lot. And they didn’t have to wait long to celebrate, with Kane scoring off an exchange with defenseman Brett Kulak to put the Oilers ahead 10:17 into the opening period.
Entering, Edmonton had not lost any of the seven previous playoff games in which Kane had scored against the Kings. That wouldn’t change on Wednesday.
The Kings, riding the momentum of a well-fought Game 4, largely controlled the game up to that point, outscoring Edmonton 7-1 in the first 10 minutes. But they weren’t able to take advantage of some sloppy Oilers play until Laferriere scored a freak goal 28 seconds before the first intermission.
With Edmonton looking to close out the period, the Kings’ Vladislav Gavrikov sent a routine pass the Oilers’ way. Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner came out of the box to play the puck, but it took an awkward leap in front of the goal for Laferriere, who easily finished into an open net for his first career playoff goal.
Just over three minutes into the second period, Lizotte, promoted to the third line alongside Laferriere for this game, scored his first goal of the playoffs to give the Kings their first series lead since Kopitar’s overtime winner in Game 2. Andreas Englund and Viktor Arvidsson made the goal possible, quickly moving the puck the length of the ice in two passes, freeing Lizotte to score on a wrister from the right circle.
The lead didn’t last long, however, and once again it was the Kings’ penalty kill that let them down, with Draisaitl ending the game with a power-play goal, Edmonton’s ninth in 20 man-advantage opportunities in the series. The Kings went 0 for 12 on the playoff power play.
“It all comes down to special teams,” Kings interim coach Jim Hiller said. “It’s very simple. You saw one team execute, another team didn’t.”
Center Phillip Danault agreed.
“I do not know what to think. It’s too recent,” he whispered in the Kings’ empty locker room. “But it definitely hurts. “You have to be better to beat this team.
“The five-on-five game is right there. At the end of the day, they have five power plays, we have [one]. You can’t control this. And it’s the same scenario every year. So if there’s one thing you should change, it’s probably fewer penalties.”
With their backs against the wall, the Kings emphasized exactly that – the need to avoid unnecessary penalties. However, less than three minutes after Lizotte’s goal, Gavrikov was hooked. And 65 seconds later the game was tied, with Draisaitl firing a shot just inside the right post that Kings goalie David Rittich poked out of the net, only to have the momentum of the shot carry the puck – and Rittich’s glove – away. over the line.
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Draisaitl’s fifth goal of the series less than five minutes later put Edmonton ahead to stay and came just four seconds after another Oilers power play expired. It also came from the same place – on the edge of the right faceoff circle – and again the assists went to McDavid and Bouchard.
Hyman tipped in the rebound of a Bouchard shot from the top of the box in the final minute of the second period — three seconds after the Kings’ Drew Doughty left the box — to double the lead.
Kempe’s fourth goal of the series gave the Kings hope with 2:18 left, but they couldn’t get any closer.
“I probably just needed a few more guys to step up. Play better. All of us, every guy on the team,” said defender Drew Doughty. “That’s the only way to win a playoff series.”
When it was finally over, there was nothing more for the Kings to do than board their Thursday morning charter flight for another long offseason. The Oilers, meanwhile, return for the second round, this time against the winner of the Vancouver-Nashville series, which resumes Friday in Nashville with the Canucks leading 3-2.
This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.
