Kuemper, Kings ‘really confident going home’ for Game 5 of Western 1st Round

EDMONTON -- Darcy Kuemper’s return to the Los Angeles Kings will be considered a success regardless of how the remainder of the Western Conference First Round against the Edmonton Oilers plays out.

The goalie was named a Vezina Trophy finalist on Monday, along with Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning. It is the first time the 34-year-old has been nominated for the award given to the NHL’s top goalie.

“It’s pretty cool,” Kuemper said Monday. “Obviously I owe a lot of thanks to my teammates and Mike Buckley, my goalie coach, for how much they’ve helped me throughout the year and obviously, I wouldn’t have been named without those guys.”

Kuemper had his best season statistically and will start Game 5 of the best-of-7 series against the Oilers at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET, FDSNW, MAX, TBS, TVAS2, SN, CBC). The series is tied 2-2 with each team winning its home games.

“Everybody talked about it, is he or he isn’t he (going to be a finalist)? I think it’s terrific,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “I think it’s well deserved, I’m glad he was nominated. I hope he gets it, but that one’s out of our hands.”

Kuemper is the fourth starting goalie the Kings have used in the past four seasons against the Oilers, who won the previous three series in the first round. Kuemper was acquired in a trade from the Washington Capitals for forward Pierre-Luc Dubois on June 19, 2024.

This is also Kuemper’s second stint with the Kings. He was the backup for Jonathan Quick in 2017-18 before being traded to the Arizona Coyotes in February of that season.

“I wasn’t really thinking about individual things like that (when acquired), but I was excited and thought it was going to be a great season,” Kuemper said. “I was very optimistic of how things would go. I knew I was going to a great team, and I was thankful for that.

“It was a really fun regular season and we’re in the mix of it right now in the playoffs. It’s been a lot of fun, but [I’m] not looking back too much on it right now.”

Kuemper was 31-11-7 with a 2.02 goals-against average, .922 save percentage and five shutouts in 50 starts this season. He was selected by the Minnesota Wild in the sixth round (No. 161) of the 2009 NHL Draft and is in his 13th season.

“My body still feels really good,” Kuemper said. “I don’t feel like I’m getting older yet, so hopefully still a lot of good years to come after this as well.”

Los Angeles is counting on Kuemper in its bid to finally solve Edmonton in the playoffs. Kuemper made 44 saves in a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 4 on Sunday and was the main reason the game did not end prior to Leon Draisaitl scoring at 18:18 of the extra period.

“He’s played terrific,” Hiller said. “We’ll expect more of it.”

Like most playoff series, Game 5 will be pivotal. Kuemper went 20-3-2 at home this season with a 1.67 GAA, .935 save percentage and four shutouts. He gave up seven goals on 51 shots (3.50 GAA, .863 save percentage) in the first two games of the series, won 6-5 and 6-2 by Los Angeles.

Game 6 will be played in Edmonton on Thursday.

“I think from my standpoint, I want to be better and better each game, and build as the series goes along, try to be tough to beat every night, make them earn their goals, do my job to give us a chance to win,” Kuemper said. “I think (Game 5), it’s going to be huge. Both teams have won both games on home ice.”

Kuemper knows he and his teammates will have to be better in the third period for the remainder of this series. Eleven of the 18 goals they’ve allowed have come in the third and while trying to protect a lead. Edmonton battled back from a 3-1 deficit in Game 4 and a 4-3 deficit in Game 3 en route to a 7-4 win.

“They have great players and when they turn it on, they’ve put us on our heels a little bit,” Kuemper said. “I think we have to make sure we look at it and even when we have the lead, just keep playing the same way, try to get on the forecheck and get the offensive cycles going and take it to them a little bit instead of sitting back too much.

“It would have been nice to get one on the road here, but after losing two, we’re really confident going home now. We’ve felt great on home ice all year and it’s going to be a big game.”