LOS ANGELES — The Kings were dominated by the forecheck in underwhemling loss to the Oilers, 3-1.
When the Kings left Los Angeles, they had a convincing 2-0 lead in the series. However, the Oilers defended their home ice and now the Kings come back to Crpto.com Arena with the series even at 2-2.
With Edmonton gaining momentum on their home ice, the play translated for them on the road. The Oilers forecheck dominated from the very beginning and set their mark throughout the entire game.
The Kings struggled so much against the Oilers forecheck that they could not get the puck out of their D-zone. This allowed Edmonton to take the puck away and more opportunities to score.
Shots on goal were a huge discrepancy between the Oilers and the Kings. The Oilers had more than double the shots on goal with 46 attempts, while the Kings only had 22 shots.
Although the Oilers had so many chances at the net, Darcy Kuemper played incredibly well. Kuemper finished with 43 saves which kept it tied at 1-1 for a long stretch of the game.
Kuemper may have been spectacular, but with about 13 minutes left, Mattias Jannmark scored a rebound goal that gave Edmonton the lead. This goal sealed the deal as the Kings offense could not generate enough pressure to respond.
In the blundering loss, Andrei Kuzmenko scored the only goal for the Kings. Adrian Kempe and Anže Kopitar were both credited with an assist.
“I think [we] were all frustrated with the effort we gave. You know, throughout the whole season, we’ve been playing hard at home,” said Joel Edmundson. “We love playing in front of these fans [a] huge game for us, and we come out like that. So yeah, frustrating.”
Home ice was a huge advantage for the Kings all season but managed to lose the most important game of their season. The uptempo pace of the Oilers has shifted momentum to where Los Angeles is now facing elimination.
Trailing 3-2 in the series, Los Angeles will have to save their season in Edmonton with game 6 on Thursday. This is the last chance the Kings have to save their season. A victory on the road would extend the series and force game 7 back in Los Angeles.
