Through 40 minutes, the thought of Game 1 finishing with a score of 6-5 didn’t seem possible, but that uncertainty and wildness is what makes the Stanley Cup Playoffs so great. The Los Angeles Kings seemed to have everything under control, playing the same way they played at Crypto.com Arena all season, suffocating the Edmonton Oilers defensively and capitalizing on the offensive chances they created, but their inability to stop the storm of what is the Oilers’ star power changed the complexion of the game in a matter of minutes.
The Kings at one point had a 4-0 lead with just a few minutes remaining in the second period and then a 5-2 lead early on in the third. Comfortably ahead is what the Kings were for most of this game, until they weren’t. An almost epic collapse that saw the Kings allow the Oilers to pot four goals in the third period to tie the game up at five was saved by Phillip Danault, whose fluttering floater of a shot somehow made its way over Stuart Skinner and into the back of the net with 41 seconds to go.
In dramatic fashion and in a rather ugly way, the Kings managed to pull out the win, and in the playoffs, that’s all that matters.
“Obviously, we’ve got to do a better job of closing that game off, but you know a win’s a win, and we’ll take that, we’ll enjoy it, and then move on tomorrow,” Quinton Byfield said. “No lead is safe in playoffs.”
Special Teams Off to a Great Start
Heading into this first-round matchup, knowing what has played key parts in the previous series that have featured these two teams, we know just how important special teams are when up against the Oilers. There weren’t many areas the Kings struggled in throughout the regular season, but the power play was definitely one of them. Nothing seemed to click on the man-advantage until Andrei Kuzmenko was brought in, and it wasn’t until his addition that we saw any real progress or improvement. With just a few games left in the regular season, the Kings formed a five-forward power play unit in which Kuzmenko was featured on, that looked dangerous right away.
Both of those changes to the power play unit were on full display in Game 1 as the Kings were able to capitalize on the man-advantage twice. After losing to the Oilers in five games in Round 1 last season and not scoring a single goal on the powerplay (went 0/12), this is already a huge sign of improvement and proof that this year’s group has more to offer.
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“There’s no secret that our power play numbers this year were not where we wanted them or needed them to be, but then at the same time, we are entering the time of the season where the timely goals are huge, so getting the first one tonight and scoring about five seconds into the 5-on-3 you know those are timely goals and we are going to need that going forward,” Anze Kopitar said.
The five-forward power play unit was on the ice for both goals, and Kuzmenko was involved in both as well, scoring his first career playoff goal off a slick feed from Kevin Fiala and picking up the secondary assist in Fiala’s power play goal early on in the third. The vision that general manager Rob Blake had for Kuzmenko when he acquired him at the trade deadline has been executed to a tee.
“A great debut for sure,” Kopitar said of his teammate. “He’s been a really good addition for us right since he got here, so we’re going to need him to play like that going forward and keep making plays and making sure that him and us as a line are responsible, and you know, keep being productive.”
On the flip side, the penalty kill, an area the Kings excelled in all season, found success in Game 1, making the Oilers’ lethal top power play unit look like nothing special. It’s no secret that the Oilers’ top power play unit is one of a kind, and more often than not, they will burn you. Limiting how much of an impact their power play has starts with taking minimal trips to the box, and the Kings had no issues with their discipline, only allowing the Oilers two power play opportunities. Throughout those two opportunities, the Kings had no trouble killing them off, only allowing the Oilers a total of two shots on goal.
McDavid Remains Too Much to Handle
Holding onto leads and closing out games in the third period has been the Kings’ bread and butter all season, but when it comes down to the playoffs and Connor McDavid is on the other side, no lead is safe. McDavid has constantly proven his ability to single-handedly take over games, and in a game that seemed out of reach for the Oilers at one point, their captain was there once again to drag them back into it.
For a team that makes it so hard to score against them, a 4-0 lead with less than 30 seconds left in the second period should be enough of a cushion. The Oilers essentially had nothing going for them offensively throughout the first two periods, and like I mentioned in my series preview, whenever it’s difficult for the Oilers to generate anything, they immediately resort to pairing up McDavid and Leon Draisaitl because the truth is, no matter how good and structured you are defensively, those two forwards will find a way to penetrate and produce and that’s exactly what happened with six seconds left in the second period, when McDavid got loose before teeing up Draisaitl near the slot.
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That was all the momentum McDavid and the Oilers needed in the third period as he went on to collect two primary assists on plays he essentially created out of nothing, as well as his first goal of the postseason, which tied the game at five. McDavid had four points on the night and once again proved too much for the Kings to handle.
The rest of this series isn’t going to be about containing McDavid because, as you can see with last night’s performance, that’s pretty much an impossible task. Whether you like it or not, he is going to find ways to produce, and it only gets harder when both McDavid and Draisaitl are out there together, which, if we are going based on Game 1, is a lot of the time. Continuing to capitalize on their own chances is how the Kings are going to stay ahead of the machine that is McDavid, and last night, although it wasn’t pretty, is exactly what they did.
Winning Game 1 Was Crucial
Teams that win Game 1 of a series go on to win the series 68.6% of the time, and home teams that win Game 1 are 75.1% winners. While the odds are certainly in the Kings’ favor after last night’s win, there are more reasons why winning Game 1 was so important.
First off, you can’t have a 4-0 lead at home in the playoffs and end up losing that game. If the Kings lost last night after having multi-goal leads multiple times, I can’t imagine what that would have done to their mental game. For a team that hasn’t been able to get past the Oilers in the first round for three straight years and has had their season ended in one less game each year, the last thing you want to do is kick off a fresh new chance by blowing that kind of lead. If anything, a loss last night in that kind of way would only feed the narrative that they can’t beat the Oilers in the playoffs.
Speaking of playing at home, burning a home game would have been less than ideal, especially when taking a look at the Kings’ road record this season. Playoffs are a whole different world, but they did have the worst road record out of any playoff team, and the lack of success on the road combined with the playoff atmosphere at Rogers Place only makes things more difficult. Ideally, the Kings take both games at home right off the bat and then try to steal one on the road, but as long as they control their games at home, the worst-case scenario is winning this series in seven games. Part of why the Kings have a good chance at moving past the first round this season is the fact that they have home-ice advantage over the Oilers for the first time. After being as dominant as they were at home all season, to start the playoffs with a loss at home would have given the Oilers a confidence boost heading into Game 2 with the idea that it isn’t so hard to beat the Kings at home.
Instead, the Kings have a 1-0 series lead, are undefeated against the Oilers at Crypto.com Arena, and have the chance to continue their dominance at home in Game 2 on Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles.
