Oilers take Game 6, defeat Kings in Western Conference 1st Round

EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers eliminated the Los Angeles Kings with a 6-4 win in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round at Rogers Place on Thursday.

The Oilers, who won the final four games of the series, have eliminated the Kings in the first round in four consecutive seasons.

“You guys all thought we were going to lose,” Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse told reporters. “But I think for us, we stuck to our game. At the beginning of the series, there were a lot of guys who weren’t in the picture going into the playoffs.

“You get that to jell and you could see some of the chemistry with the lines and guys playing together and that came as the series went on. LA is a really good team, they were great all year. It was hard-fought every time we got out there. It’s a series that we earned and we had to earn every inch of it.”

Connor Brown had a goal and two assists, and Nurse, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, and Trent Frederic each had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who are the No. 3 seed from the Pacific Division. Calvin Pickard made 23 saves.

“We got offense from all over the lineup today, it’s great. You need that, you need different guys stepping up,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. “I thought (Brown) had his best game as an Oiler, maybe. He was fantastic. Pickard, obviously.

"You go down the list, we had guys step up. It wasn’t our best, but we found a way tonight and that’s what good teams do.”

Quinton Byfield, Jordan Spence and Brandt Clarke scored for the Kings, who were the No. 2 seed from the Pacific. Kevin Fiala and Alex Laferriere each had two assists, and Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves.

“One-hundred percent it’s a missed opportunity. It’s very clear it’s a missed opportunity for us,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “Especially when we had great buy-in from our players. We believe we could have won the series, we believe we should have won the series.

“We didn’t, so that’s the bottom line. We had our chances to get it done, didn’t get it done.”

Byfield put the Kings ahead 1-0 at 1:19 of the first period, getting sprung on a breakaway by a centering pass from Fiala and sending a shot low stick side on Pickard.

Adam Henrique tied it 1-1 at 3:04. Brown picked up a rebound off a shot by Frederic and fired through a crowd for a deflection by Henrique over Kuemper’s right shoulder.

Clarke responded for Los Angeles just 33 seconds later to make it 2-1, taking a cross-ice pass from Phillip Danault and sending a wrist shot high in the right circle far side past Pickard.

Nugent-Hopkins tied it 2-2 on the power play at 5:55, taking a cross-ice feed from McDavid inside the left dot and scoring with a catch-and-release wrist shot past Kuemper’s blocker.

Hyman put Edmonton ahead 3-2 at 12:49, deflecting a point shot by Nurse high over Kuemper’s glove after an offensive-zone face-off.

Nurse made it 4-2 at 14:59 of the second period, sending a wrist shot from the top of the left circle past Kuemper’s blocker after Mattias Janmark allowed what looked to be a pass back from Vasily Podkolzin go between his skates to the defenseman for an open shot.

Frederic extended the lead to 5-2 at 16:35, reaching for a centering pass by Brown and poking it up over Kuemper’s right pad.

Spence cut the lead to 5-3 at 18:01, one-timing a pass to the slot by Fiala past Pickard’s glove.

Kopitar closed it to 5-4 with 55 seconds remaining, tipping a point shot by Drew Doughty past Pickard’s glove, but Brown scored into an empty net with two seconds left for the 6-4 final.

“This one’s tough to swallow obviously. Having the season we had, and to have the guys in this locker room and come up short again, it’s frustrating,” Kopitar said. “This one hurts a little more.

“Especially having home ice, and off to a good start with winning the first two games and then just not being able to close games out. It cost us.”

NOTES: The Oilers became the second team in NHL history to record four straight comeback wins after trailing 2-0 in a best-of-7 series. The only other team to do it was the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round against the Colorado Avalanche in 2021. ... The Oilers have earned wins in each of their past six potential series-clinching games against the Kings dating to Game 6 of the 1991 Division Finals. They are the fifth team to do so, joining the Montreal Canadiens (seven games against the Boston Bruins from 1957 to 1987), Edmonton (six games against the Winnipeg Jets from 1983 to 1990), Montreal (six games against Boston from 1946 to 1955) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (six games against the Chicago Blackhawks from 1932 to 1994). ... Corey Perry played his 221st NHL playoff game, tying Bryan Trottier for 10th all-time. ... Leon Draisaitl had his 19-game playoff point streak against the Kings end (17 goals, 20 assists).