Goodbye LA.

The Edmonton Oilers have eliminated the LA Kings in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and will face the Vegas Golden Knights in Round 2.

Going into the game tonight I had a bunch of emotions circling in my head. I felt confident that Edmonton could close this series out in Game 6 but also knew that this Kings team does not go away easily. I had a feeling this was going to be decided by a single goal.

And decided by a single goal it was with Kailer Yamamoto being the hero for the Edmonton Oilers. I’ve been hard on Yamamoto, for good reason, and I’m happy for him to get this big moment. Kailer has always been a streaky player. Hopefully the pucks start going on for him again.

Originally I was just going to do a game breakdown but instead I want to highlight a few players from this series, for both sides.

Bouchard had an amazing series for the Oilers and the Bouch and Ekholm pairing were really a key cog in the Oilers series win. My thoughts prior to the post season was that Ken Holland would reevaluate a Karlsson trade in the summer if Bouchard had a mediocre playoff run. Right now I wouldn’t move Bouchard for Karlsson one for one.

One thing I love about the playoffs is getting to know really good players from other teams you don’t hear about too often. This series showed me how good a player Adrian Kempe is. He was a thorn in the Oilers side all series and was so good at picking corners on Skinner. It was one of these shots that made it 3-2. Whenever the Kings were struggling to get back into a game, it felt like Kempe was the one who managed to break through.

I thought Gavrikov also had a great series. I bounced between thinking he would be a good player for the Oilers to go after at the deadline to thinking he might be a third pairing guy at best. He was excellent at defender the Oilers and breaking up their rush attempts. If I’m the Kings I try to extend that guy.

Kostin scored two goals in this game, giving him three in the playoffs so far. The Oilers bottom six as a whole was the difference maker in this series and it’s great having a guy in the bottom six who will just wire the puck on net.

Ryan McLeod had 3 assists in 6 games and was excellent at outmatching any line he went up against. Foegele had plenty of chances and while he couldn’t capitalize he was around the puck at all times and tough to push off the puck. Derek Ryan had his one timely goal and was a great part of that line. Bjugstad had some up and downs but scored two goals and brought his size to every shift. The Oilers bottom six players all came to play.

Basically every player on the team has their moment to shine… with the exception of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Don’t know if it’s just how the Kings play or if he is dealing with some kind of injury but RNH just couldn’t get anything going at 5 on 5. It wasn’t even that he was getting looks, he just was kind of invisible most nights. He needs to find a way to step up in this series against the Knights.

McDavid was good in this series but not superhuman and I think it’s time we put some more respect on the Kings for doing such a good job at limiting his chances. I think we will see him able to find more open ice against Vegas.

Draisaitl was superhuman in this whole series and just exploded offensively. He was the Oilers best player in this series by far.

Stuart Skinner had an interesting series with some highs and lows. He played his best game by far in Game 6, stopping 40 of 44.

The short handed goal that the Kings scored was awful, until it came out right after the Skinner’s stick was broken due to Kempe slashing the net minders stick on the prior play (an uncalled penalty). Skinner didn’t mess up the pass, his stick literally folded underneath him. Even with that heartbreaking goal, Skinner went right back to work and prevented another from getting past.

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I’d like to thank all the Kings fans who read my blogs during this series and of course all of my regular (and hopefully some new) Oilers readers. This Kings and Oilers rivalry has turned into some must watch hockey around the NHL and I look forward to seeing both teams face off in the post season more in the future.

Enjoy your Sunday everyone. Tomorrow I’ll be back here to talk more about what we should expect from a Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers playoff series. First time we get to see these two teams in the playoffs against one another. Should be a fun time.

Thanks for reading!

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