The Los Angeles Kings opened the playoffs with a loss last night, falling 7-4 to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1.
The game also marked Carl Grundstrom’s return to the lineup, after missing over two months of action.
The Oilers had the first great chances of the game, when Zach Hyman and Adam Henrique each had an opportunity at the side of the net with an open cage, but couldn’t convert. But then about seven minutes into the frame, Edmonton did manage to get on the board when Connor McDavid made a great move to get around Mikey Anderson, before putting a pass to the front of the net, where Zach Hyman slid a puck through Cam Talbot. Then only minutes later, Zach Hyman found Adam Henrique in a good spot alone, and Henrique roofed a shot over Talbot, leaving Los Angeles quickly down 2-0 midway through the first period.
Los Angeles did kill off a penalty after that, but the first period was all Oilers. Edmonton had almost all the threatening chances, with another good opportunity for McDavid, then a 2-on-1 a little later. The Kings did have a power play to end the period, but after being outshot 15-7 in the first period, they went to intermission in a multi-goal hole without much momentum.
Los Angeles had a bit more jump in the second period, but when Viktor Arvidsson couldn’t convert on a quick breakaway, under a minute later, McDavid went back the other way and found Hyman for his second goal of the game, quickly making it 3-0.
While the Kings had another power play opportunity from there to get on the board, after they couldn’t capitalize, the Oilers ended up on a man advantage of their own shortly after, where Leon Draisaitl fond Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for a tap-in to extend the lead to four goals midway through the game.
Los Angeles did get on the board shortly after, when Mikey Anderson put a shot on net through a screen to beat Stuart Skinner. Then under two minutes later, Carl Grundstrom just threw the shot on net, and it went in off Trevor Lewis in front and in, looking like the Kings had cut the deficit to two goals. However, the goal was called back on a review, after it was deemed the puck went in off Lewis’ glove.
Late in the frame though, the Kings did cut the lead down for real, when Adrian Kempe threw the puck to the front of the net and it was tipped in by Quinton Byfield, giving the Kings a bit of life heading into intermission, down 4-2.
A third period power play goal from Leon Draisaitl only a minute into the frame quickly shut down any chances of a Kings comeback though, beating Talbot with a great shot from the side of the net. Then about five minutes later, the Oilers capitalized on yet another power play, with Hyman tapping in a pass from McDavid to complete his hat trick, leaving Edmonton up 6-2.
Los Angeles did make the score a little more respectable late, with two fairly flukey goals in quick succession in the final minutes, but an empty net goal from Warren Foegele secured a 7-4 loss for the Kings.
It’s a pretty tough opener for Los Angeles, looking at times like they were completely outmatched. Especially in the first period, the score could’ve realistically been a lot worse than 2-0. You could look at Cam Talbot allowing six goals and say goaltending was a factor, but I don’t think the Kings’ chances are any better no matter who was in net for that.
Connor McDavid was just picking apart Kings’ defense with his speed, making Mikey Anderson in particular look bad a couple times when he drove around him to go in towards goal. McDavid ended up registering five assists in Game 1.
In terms of special teams, the hope was the Kings’ second-ranked penalty kill would be able to fend off the Oilers’ power play to an extent, but this just wasn’t the case. Edmonton went 3-for-4 on the man advantage, with a couple of tap-ins where a player was left all alone in front of the net for an easy redirect.
I suppose it was good to see some fight from the Kings after they fell into the 4-0 hole, but there aren’t a ton of positives coming out of this Game 1. Jim Hiller mixed around the lines, so we’ll see how the Game 2 lineup ends up differing from last night.
The key going forward will be limiting penalties, and trying as best as possible to cut down on mistakes and slow down Edmonton’s offense. The Kings are back in action for Game 2 tomorrow.
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- Previewing Round 1: Kings vs. Oilers
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