The Kings took Game 1 against the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 6-5 on Monday night inside Crypto.com Arena. Meeting in the first round for the fourth consecutive postseason, it was the first time in the four best-of-seven battles that the Kings held home-ice advantage and after 60 minutes they still hold that advantage. There truly is nothing like playoff hockey and tonight’s game was a prime example of that.
The Kings were front-runners for Game 1 and held a lead in the game for 55:39 consecutively before chaos ensued. The Kings jumped ahead with a power-play goal from Andrei Kuzmenko 2:49 into the game, tipping in a backdoor shot pass from Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe. The early power play goal was exactly what the Kings needed after going 0-for-12 in last season’s playoff matchup and the goal brought an already electric crowd to their feet. Still leading 1-0 in the final minute of the opening period, the Kings earned themselves an all-important second goal with 33 seconds to go. Coming moments after Drew Doughty’s shot in the high slot was fought off by Stuart Skinner’s right shoulder, the puck deflected behind the goal line towards that same corner. Recognizing Skinner had yet to retreat fully back into position, Quinton Byfield made a heads up play and shot the puck back towards Skinner. Byfield’s shot found the back of Skinner as the goalie tried to hug the post and the puck went in the net. The Kings led 2-0 on the scoreboard and 8-6 in shots after 20 minutes.
The Kings added to their lead in the ladder half of the second period making it a 3-0 game with 5:13 to go in the period. Following a shot on goal in the slot from Kempe that almost found the back of the net, the puck made its way behind the net and back out to Kempe thanks to the assistance from his linemates Anze Kopitar and the game’s first goalscorer Kuzmenko. Two puck battles won from his linemates resulted in the Swede being left all alone in front of Skinner. Kempe happily grabbed the loose puck, went forehand to backhand and slid it into the net to extend the lead. Just under three minutes later, Phillip Danault accepted a gift of a turnover from the Oilers defense and expanded the Kings lead to 4-0. With the puck behind the Oilers net, Danault was patiently waiting as the high forward and suddenly found the puck on his tape alone again in visitors slot thanks to an errant pass from Evan Bouchard. Danault quickly fired the puck before the Oilers could recover and beat Skinner with a wrist shot to put the Kings fully in control up by four goals… or so they thought. With under a minute to go in the second period, the Kings had held Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers off the scoreboard and limited their opponents to just nine shots on goal. That all changed in the middle stanza’s dying seconds as McDavid fed Draisaitl for a one-timer goal with six seconds left in the period, giving the Oilers life. Kings led 4-1 after 40 minutes.
The comeback from the Oilers began 2:19 into the third period when their depth players cut the lead to 4-2. All factoring in on the goal, Jeff Skinner and Trent Frederic gained possession of the puck behind the Kings net and fed Mattias Janmark on the weakside of Darcy Kuemper’s crease for a backdoor tap-in goal. With the Kings lead down to two goals, the home team responded and did so on the power play. Taking advantage of multiple mental mistakes from the Oilers, the Kings quickly cashed in on an abbreviated 5-on-3 when Kempe fed Fiala for a one-timer and the Swiss-born winger rifled the puck past Skinner to make it a 5-2 game. Back up comfortably by three, the Oilers staged a comeback. Cutting the lead to 5-3 with 12:17 remaining in the game was veteran Corey Perry, roofing an in-tight pass from McDavid past an outstretched Kuemper. Now just a two goal lead, the Kings failed to push the game out of reach after going unsuccessful on a full two-minute 5-on-3 power play and they paid for it. The Oilers cut the lead down to one goal with 2:04 to go in regulation when McDavid notched his third assist of the game, this time feeding Zach Hyman with a backdoor pass. Then, 36 seconds later, McDavid evened the score after entering the zone by himself and wristing a puck underneath the right pad of Kuemper with 1:28 remaining in regulation. With a what once was ruckus crowd in shock, the game was suddenly 5-5 with one minute to go in regulation. Momentum not on their side, the Kings didn’t care. Stepping up at a time in need, the line of Danault, Warren Foegele and Trevor Moore came up clutch. With just 42 seconds to go in regulation, Moore grabbed a loose puck in the neutral zone and entered the Oilers zone with possession. With Moore ooking for an outlet Foegele opened up the middle of the slot by driving the net. Trailing the play was a wide open Danault who received a pass from Moore and one-timed it. Completely shanking the shot, the puck left Danault’s stick as if he’d played it with a pitching wedge. Fluttering up into the air, a screening Foegele blocked the eye sight of Skinner and the puck went over the goalie and into the back of the net for the game-winning goal.
Kuemper stopped 20 of 25 shots to earn the Game 1 win.
