Not Even Harmonicas On This Night Could Make A Difference
By any measuring stick this has been a crazy, compelling series between the Los Angeles Kings and the Edmonton Oilers. So, it was more than a little surprising that the Edmonton Oilers’ 3-1 win in a crucial Game 5 was somehow the least compelling of the five games played so far. And, from a Kings’ perspective, the loss was the most lopsided of the series. You’ve heard the old line about the score of a game not being indicative of the real story of the game? Game 5 was exactly that kind of game. In spite of the presence of the latest sporting anthem sensation the ladies of the Koreatown Senior and Community Center of Los Angeles whose harmonica rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner had staked the Kings to a 2-0 series lead; the Kings were overmatched in every area of the game except goaltending. And were it not for the marvelous work of Vezina Trophy nominee Darcy Kuemper, well, let’s just say a disappointing night could easily have slid into embarrassing. “They executed way better than us tonight,” head coach Jim Hiller said after the Oilers had taken their first lead of the series by virtue of their third straight win. “They beat us in every area of the game, except for the special teams, oddly enough,” Hiller added. “They were just better in every way. We can’t look to one part of our game and think that that was acceptable or that was good enough.”
An Ugly Start A Harbinger Of Defeat
The time between Game 4 and Game 5 seemed to go by very quickly. And it was fair to wonder where the LA Kings would be in terms of their mindset having dropped two very winnable games in Edmonton to see a 2-0 series lead become a best-of-three. The script for the Kings was to park it and get back to the dominant play that has been the hallmark of the team at Crypto.com Arena throughout the season and through the first two games of this series. Uh. It didn’t quite turn out that way. Instead, Kuemper was called on to bail out the Kings repeatedly during a first period that saw them out-shot 19-4. The Kings didn’t get their first shot on net until almost midway through the period. Meanwhile, sloppy play in the Kings’ zone led to glorious chances for Adam Henrique – two on one sequence – Victor Arvidsson and most notably Evan Bouchard who was robbed by Kuemper on a 2-on-1 setup by Connor McDavid. Bouchard had been the scoring hero in Edmonton scoring four goals in the two games including the tying goal in Game 4 in the waning seconds of regulation. Maybe it was nerves. Maybe it was the lingering aftereffects of basically playing with three lines and four-and-a-half defensemen for most of the series. Or maybe it was the Oilers smelling blood in the water and bringing by far their best, most complete game of the series. Regardless of the why, the how was evident throughout a disjointed first period that set the tone for the balance of the evening as the Kings were beaten to pucks, made errant passes and in general looked very unlike the team that compiled the National Hockey League’s best home record during the regular season. “They had us from the start of the game,” Hiller said of the Oilers. “That's the bigger concern. They were just better. They were just better.” The Kings, so good all season at playing a stingy, structed defense and relying an opportunistic and balanced attack, could not make any kind of transition to try and push back against the Oilers. “We probably gave them more odd-man rushes in the first period tonight than they might have had in the whole series to this point,” Hiller said. “You're just not going to win that. We're not going to win that way,” Hiller added. “Maybe some other teams can win that way. We're not going to win that way. And that's why we play the style that we do. We have to keep it tight and then grind you for one or two.”
So, Now What
The latter stages of an NHL playoff series is like a snowball rolling down a hill. You don’t get much time to regroup or reflect on the good or the bad that befalls you. The Kings will have around 44 hours to process this three-game losing streak and face the prospect of seeing such a promising season and playoff series come to an abrupt end if they cannot find a way to get a road win in Edmonton in Game 6 on Thursday. “I mean, it's not easy, but we’ve got to push through it, it is what it is,” said captain Anze Kopitar who earned an assist on the Kings’ lone goal, a power play goal in the second period by Andrei Kuzmenko. “We knew we were going to have to win a game on the road eventually, and I don't know, no better time to do it now.” Kopitar said the shot clock told the story of the team’s inability to string strong shifts together throughout the night. The Oilers out-shot LA 46-22 overall and 33-12 through 40 minutes. “Obviously, everybody's frustrated, but we’ve got to put it behind us. We’ve got to go win a game on the road, and that's what we're going to focus on,” Kopitar said. Hiller pointed out the massive amount of effort that it takes to get to this point. And the reality is that the Oilers took over the series from a Kings team that had been the better team through most of the first four games. Now, the Kings have to go to Edmonton and take it back and force Game 7 on Saturday. “They took it away from us. We've got to go win a hockey game and take it back. It's just the way to go,” Hiller said. “There’s no tricks here.”
Special Teams And Failing To Flip The Script On The Third Period Narrative
The Kings held a lead going into the third period of the first four games in this series. They frittered away those leads in three of them, losing Games 3 and 4. So, with the score tied 1-1 going into the third period Tuesday night maybe there was some kind of alternate world where the Kings dominated the third to steal a win. Although the Kings did play better in the third it was the Oilers who got the break they needed – and probably deserved given their wide edge in play domination – when Mattias Janmark deposited the rebound of a Victor Arvidsson shot past the superb Kuemper to make it 2-1 before the mid-point of the third period. The Kings did have some looks but not nearly enough. And, on a night when the Kings did not have it at all five-on-five they needed their power play even more than ever. And while the Kings’ only goal did come with the man advantage in the second period, they needed one more but couldn’t find it. In fact, the last of three opportunities for the Kings on the night came shortly after Janmark’s critical goal. But that power play, like so much of the Kings’ attack on this night, yielded no extended zone time or legitimate scoring chances. As for the penalty kill technically the Kings did not give up a power play goal but in reality, the Oilers’ first goal was an extension of a power play as the Kings couldn’t clear the zone even after Drew Doughty returned to the ice after a tripping call and Evander Kane evened the game at 1-1.
Randomness
I was pleased to see both Alex Turcotte and Jordan Spence back in the lineup in Game 5 as head coach Jim Hiller went back to the 12 forward, six defensemen setup that had been so successful for the team since the trade deadline. There has been a lot of discussion about the allotment of ice time in this series for the Kings and while the fourth line again played modest minutes, I thought Turcotte, Samuel Helenius and Jeff Malott were fine in their limited exposure. In fact, Turcotte drew the penalty that led to the Kings’ power play goal in the second period. Spence played 8:17 and Hiller talked in the morning about how the coaching staff has made lots of lineup decisions with the younger players throughout the season and so it wouldn’t be a big deal for Spence, who was scratched for the last two games, to come back into the lineup and be fine. Which he was.
