The Edmonton Oilers have defeated the Los Angeles Kings in six games! For the fourth year in a row, the Oilers have battled against their Pacific Division rivals in the Kings, and have come out victorious. With a 6–4 win, the Oilers were able to finish business on home ice and give fans what they wanted.
It hasn’t been an easy ride for the Oilers near the end of the regular season, with playoffs knocking on their doorstep. The team was battling a slurry of injuries, including Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Stuart Skinner. The biggest absence has to be Mattias Ekholm, who has missed the whole first round and is not expected to return in the second round either. However, the team managed to create some decent defence pairings to take them to the next round.
Early struggles against the Kings
Coming into this series, Edmonton had lost the last two regular-season games when they played against the Kings. To add insult to injury, they were both shut out by Darcy Kuemper.
The start of the postseason was no better. Game one saw the Oilers lose by just one goal in a 6–5 loss. It was a hard-fought battle as the Oilers scored four in the third period to tie it, but Skinner let Phillip Danault let one slip by him in the last minute, resulting in the loss.
Game two showed an extremely lackluster performance by the Oilers. Los Angeles dominated in a 6–2 win that saw Skinner get pulled, and Calvin Pickard still could not save the day.
With the losses of Games one and two, Edmonton now had a four-game losing streak against Los Angeles. Edmonton desperately needed to turn things around and show they could make it to the final once again.
Game three was a decisive 7–4 win at home for the Oilers with Pickard as the starter. The Oilers were finally showing signs of life. Then Game four was a nail-biting 4–3 overtime for Edmonton, while Game five was a low-scoring 3–1 win.
How the Oilers became victorious over the Kings
Game six started as a doozy with Quinton Byfield scoring just over a minute into the game. Although Adam Henrique quickly answered back, just half a minute later, Brandt Clarke gave the Kings the lead. However, two more goals from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman kept the Oilers ahead.
The second period started slowly but ramped up near the end. The shots were down, but the Oilers managed two goals in the last five minutes. Darnell Nurse got his first of the post-season while Trent Frederic got his first as an Oiler. Then Kings’ defenceman Jordan Spence answered back.
Heading into the third period, it was 5–3 for the Oilers. The game saw it’s second Kings’ power play of the game and Edmonton was able to kill it. The Kings had a lot of great chances and after pulling Kuemper, they scored in the last minute. However, that wasn’t enough. Edmonton answered back with a Connor Brown empty netter to make it 6–4.
What’s next for the Edmonton Oilers?
Last year in the second round, the Oilers played the Vancouver Canucks. Edmonton traded wins back and forth, but ultimately won the seven-game series. However, Vancouver won’t be a worry for Edmonton as they did not make the playoffs this year.
This second-round series will have the Oilers face the Vegas Golden Knights. These two teams have only ever met once in the eight years since Vegas joined the league.
In 2023, the Oilers lost the series two games to four. Vegas eventually went on to be the Stanley Cup champions that year. During the 2024–25 season, the Oilers and the Knights split the four games played, both winning one each at home and away. Let’s hope the regular season is not a good representation of what will happen in this second round.
Edmonton will have to kick it into another gear in order to beat Vegas and advance to the Western Conference Final. Do the Oilers have what it takes to go back to the Stanley Cup Final? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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