GAME RECAP: Oilers 6, Kings 4 (Game 6)

EDMONTON, AB – Four straight victories to take the series.

Four straight years the Kingdom has fallen at the hands of Oil Country.

After trailing 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings early in the series, the Edmonton Oilers rallied for four straight victories to eliminate their Pacific Division rivals from the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth straight year, sealing their place in the Second Round with a 6-4 victory on Thursday in Game 6 at Rogers Place.

"We got offence from all over the lineup today. It was great. You need different guys stepping up," Connor McDavid said. "I thought Brownie maybe had his best game as an Oiler today. He was fantastic. Picks obviously as , and you go down the list. We had guys step up. I'm sure guys have already said it wasn't our best, but we found a way tonight and that's what good teams do."

Winger Connor Brown was vital to victory with a goal and two assists, providing the primary helpers on goals from Adam Henrique and Trent Frederic, who notched his first goal in and Oilers uniform, before adding the empty netter with 1.2 seconds remaining that officially booked Edmonton's trip to Round 2.

"You definitely get more into a rhythm the more you play," Brown said. "You're able to be relied upon offensively, so I think building off that has been big. But the biggest thing I think is just that I've been having fun. I feel back to my full self, so I'm just enjoying it. It was just a fun one out there."

Goaltender Calvin Pickard, who came in to replace Stuart Skinner for Game 3, backstopped the Oilers to their fourth straight victory with 23 saves, making a pair of terrific stops against Phillip Danault and Brandt Clarke in the third period where the Kings fought back to make it a one-goal game in the final minute.

"I was just trying to make the saves when I could, do my job and trust my teammates that they were going to do theirs, and they did," Pickard said. "Tonight wasn't our best, but we found a way. We scored some goals and made some big plays when it mattered, and it's exciting. In a week we went from down 2-0 to winning the series, so it feels good right now and we're excited for what's ahead."

Zach Hyman scored on a deflection 12:49 into the first period to give the Oilers the lead at 3-2, which they didn't relinquish over the next two and a half periods despite Los Angeles' concerted push late in the final frame, to go along with an assist for the winger.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added a power-play goal in the second period that was assisted by Connor McDavid, giving the captain a helper to extend his career playoff dominance over the Kings to an NHL best 47 points (10G, 37A) in 24 games against Los Angeles.

Leon Draisaitl was held pointless to put an end to his NHL-best playoff streak of 19 games against one team, but it comes in a victory that will hopefully be one of Edmonton's last against Los Angeles for a long while, but you never know when these two will encounter each other again in the postseason.

The Oilers will now face off in the Second Round with their old rivals the Vegas Golden Knights, who eliminated the Minnesota Wild in six games.

It will be the second time in three seasons the two Pacific sides will meet in Round 2 after Vegas ended Edmonton's season in six games back in 2023-24 before winning their first Stanley Cup, but the Oilers will be ready for the challenge as they continue their quest to get back to the Stanley Cup Final.

"Looking forward to it. They're a great team," McDavid said of the matchup. "Obviously they've won and have a solid back end, and through the middle of the rink, they're deep. There's eight teams left. They're all good. They're left for a reason, so we got our work cut out for us. But we'll be ready to roll."

FIRST PERIOD

How's your heart rate after that opening 20 minutes?

The offence came fast and frequent after the Oilers and Kings combined for more goals in the first frame of Game 6 on Thursday than the entire 60 minutes of Edmonton's 3-1 victory in Game 6 on Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena, with three of them arriving during a 2:18 span of the opening five minutes that began with Quinton Byfield's breakaway opener just 1:19 into the contest.

"I think that's a lot of experience all built into one – not just from the series, but from series in the past," Darnell Nurse said of Edmonton's mixed start. "This is a resilient group; a group that believes no matter how far or how much we're pushing, we can find a way to win. This series was a testament of it."

Connor McDavid and Corey Perry got caught swinging too low into the Kings zone when a rimmed puck from Leon Draisaitl quickly turned into a three-on-two for the visitors, and after Darnell Nurse tried to pinch the puck off Kevin Fiala just inside the blueline, the Swiss forward sauced it into space for Byfield to come in on a breakaway and put it past Calvin Pickard for the early 1-0 lead.

The Kings scored the opening goal in five of the six games in this series, but the change in emotion in ICE District and Rogers Place didn't last long courtesy of 'Downtown' Connor Brown, who took the shot that led to Adam Henrique getting credit for his first of the playoffs to tie the game at 1-1 only 1:45 later.

Brown tried to make a pass through the slot to Trent Frederic off a zone entry that didn't fully connect before he got the puck back with all five Kings players beneath their own team's hashmarks. The winger took his shot from outside the perimiter of the LA crease that found its way past Darcy Kuemper by catching a piece of forward Jeff Malott's leg and getting the final touch off Henrique's arm around the crease to nestle it into the right side of the net.

"Brownie's been huge for us," Nurse said. "Obviously, the energy that he brings on a nightly basis is one thing, and then his ability and his confidence kind of just oozes from him. He goes out there and make plays and has confidence in his abilities. And like I said, as a group, you kind of all gel around that and [the bottom six] made some huge plays – not just tonight, but in Game 5 too, so it was great to see."

But that equalizer from Henrique was only celebrated for 34 seconds, as defenceman Brandt Clarke was able to come across the blueline less than half a minute later and pick his spot clean to the far right corner on Pickard to restore the Los Angeles lead at 16:23 of the period.

Keeping up with the quick responses in the opening six minutes, the Oilers received the game's first power play on a boarding call assessed Alex Laferriere for taking out Vasily Podkolzin with a dangerous check, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made them pay.

McDavid found a seem through the slot to put the puck on the tape of Nugent-Hopkins alone in the left circle, and the longest-tenured Oilers player made no mistake by going high blocker on his former Red Deer Rebels teammate inside the post to level things up at 2-2 with 14:55 still to be played in the first frame.

"I think the first six or seven minutes were almost as wild as the next 53," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "It was wide open. There were a ton of turnovers on both sides and a lot of scoring chances. It wasn't easy for either goaltender to play."

It was Nugent-Hopkins' 20th career playoff goal, which gave him three goals and two assists in the series that've all come over the past four games as Edmonton rallied from their 2-0 deficit. McDavid’s primary assist added to his record of most playoff points against the Kings in NHL history with 47 (10G, 37A) to rank him above Oilers legends such as Mark Messier (42), Glenn Anderson (37), and Wayne Gretzky (32).

With more than half the period left, the Oilers would take their first lead of the night with 7:11 left in a frenetic opening frame on a sublime deflection from Zach Hyman by getting his stick quickly to a Darnell Nurse point shot that arrived right after a face-off win from Mattias Janmark in the offensive zone.

Janmark, who's been a clutch contributor for the Oilers in this series as the centre of Edmonton's potent fourth line with Podkolzin and Arvidsson, won the draw before it was pushed up to Nurse by Podkolzin for a wrist shot that was redirected perfectly by Hyman over the left shoulder of Kuemper.

Hyman had two points in the first period (1G, 1A) and now has 13 goals and eight assists in 24 playoff games against the Los Angeles, and 37 goals and 30 assists in his playoff career. Despite some defensive challenges, the Oilers had a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes as they looked to close out the Kings in Game 6.

"Definitely not what we were looking for. I would think they would say the same thing," McDavid said. "You never want to play a game like that, but I thought we did a great job of responding. Henrique's line goes out there and the power play did a good job. To come out of that first period with the lead, we were fortunate. But good teams capitalize on those situations, and we did that tonight."

SECOND PERIOD

The job was not done, but the Oilers were 20 minutes away from advancing to Round 2 with a 5-3 lead on the Kings through two periods.

Darnell Nurse has scored some big playoff goals for the Oilers in recent seasons, and you can add the Hamilton, Ont. product's tally with 5:01 left in the middle frame to that list after he gave his side a two-goal lead with all the time he needed in the slot to pick his spot short side on Kuemper.

With the Oilers having numbers on the rush, all three of Edmonton's fourth-line forwards touched the puck coming into the Kings zone before it landed on Nurse's stick with time on his side, and the long-time Blue & Orange blueliner made no mistake by beating Kuemper under the blocker to make it 4-2.

"Janny's line, they were skating," Nurse said. "I was just trying to find my way in as the fourth man and Podz made a great play and Janny left it, too. So at that point, just as Coff always says, 'Aim for the middle of the net and see what happens.'"

Nurse notched his first playoff goal since Game 4 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, adding to his first-period assist on Hyman's go-ahead goal to register his second multi-point game game in the postseason after recording two assists vs. Los Angeles on Apr. 25, 2023.

In a complete reversal of the opening frame, Edmonton and Los Angeles saved their goalscoring in the midddle stanza for the final five minutes, starting with Nurse's marker that was followed by Trent Frederic's first goal in an Oilers uniform just 1:36 later that began with a powerful rush up ice from Connor Brown.

With room to use his blazing speed, Brown took off with the puck from inside Edmonton's blueline before chucking it into the danger area where Frederic was waiting to squeak his first goal in Blue & Orange under the right arm of Kuemper to lift the Oilers into a 5-2 lead with 3:25 left in the frame.

Along with scoring his first Oilers goal, it was also the first multi-point playoff game of Frederic's career after he became the 419th player in franchise history to find the scoresheet.

"I think in Game 4 overtime, we really started to gel and we've been building off it ever since," Brown said of his line with Frederic and Henrique. "I think the big boy Freddy is really starting to find his game. He's got soft hands, is a big fella and he's fun to play with. And Rico, I love playing with Rico, so there's something good there. We've just got to keep building on it."

However, the Kings responded quickly on a pass to the inside by Kevin Fiala off the rush that found Jordan Spence wide open to beat Pickard to the left side after the Oilers netminder had made a pair of crucial saves in the period's early going – one being on a breakaway for former teammate Warren Foegele.

It was a good reminder that there was still 20 minutes the Oilers needed to see out to advance to the Second Round.

THIRD PERIOD

Calvin Pickard deserved this win for how he played in the final frame of Game 6 – and this series – after he wasn't even playing in the NHL abck in 2022-23 when these two teams met in the First Round for the first of four straight meetings.

Connor Brown deserved to score that empty-net goal – despite their being only 1.2 seconds on the clock – after missing their first-ever meeting because of a torn ACL before missing the entire First Round as a healthy scratch, and Thursday night was possibly his best performance in an Oilers uniform.

And the Oilers deserved to win this series – despite falling behind to a 2-0 deficit after the first two games – but they're moving on to Round 2.

"I think overcoming things like that, it helps you in these big moments," Brown said. "I think that's why Picks is able to come in and give us such solid performances night after night. He's overcome so much in his career. He's been down and out, so he knows what he can overcome. I think it gives you a little bit of that confidence in those big moments."

It's never easy against the Kings, who've always put up a fight in any situation over their four straight meetings with the Oilers in the First Round, and the third period was no different when they made a concerted push when trailing by two goals by pulling their goalie with under four minutes left in regulation.

"I think our team does a pretty good job of just being in the moment and trying to play whatever way the situation presents itself," Darnell Nurse said. "So that was what we needed. We weren't as crisp defensively and as we were in Game 5, but we found ways to score goals and then lock it down at the end."

"They were great all year in the regular season," Nurse added. "It was hard fought every time we got out there, and it was a series where we had to earn every inch of it."

The Oilers killed off a high-sticking penalty assessed to Zach Hyman earlier in the frame at 7:49 of the third – a huge stop by Edmonton's penalty kill that prevented the Kings from recording a power-play goal in a game for the first time this series.

Pickard made a clutch save on a deflection from Phillip Danault in the slot that needed the netminder to make a quick reaction save to get any piece of his glove to the Kings centre's effort, keeping the game tied before coming up with his best save of the period in the game's final minute against Brandt Clarke.

With the Kings playing six-on-five, Pickard lashed out with the right pad on a rebound that fell to his right and the stick of Clarke for an in-tight opportunity that the 33-year-old stopped with an awe-inspiring stop before Darnell Nurse was able to keep the puck from crossing the line with a sprawling clearance.

It's never without drama between these two teams, and with 55 seconds left in regulation with the Kings needing two goals to force overtime, the visitors got one back on a deflection by Anze Kopitar off Drew Doughty's shot to beat Pickard over the left pad and make it a 5-4 game in the final minute.

On Los Angeles' final attack, Brett Kulak was able to shield the puck before getting it to Leon Draisaitl for the crucual clearance, and with less than 10 seconds remaining, Doughty tried a 200-foot shot that was blocked by Brown before he buried the empty netter with 1.2 seconds left to seal the series.

Unclench, Oilers fans. We've clinched and we're on our way to Round 2 to face our old rival the Vegas Golden Knights for the second time in three years.

"We dug ourselves out of tough spots against a stingy team," McDavid said. "Obviously, we want to have a better start next series. We'll focus on that and be ready to go, but we should be proud of this one. LA is a great team. They're not easy to beat a team four years straight, so it was a fun series to be a part of and fun to come out on the good side."