On Monday night, the Edmonton Oilers faced off against the Los Angeles Kings at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, for the first game of the first round in the Western Conference. This marks the third consecutive year that these two teams have met in the first round, with the Kings seeking revenge after the Oilers won the previous two series.
The Oilers and Kings entered the game familiar with each other, having played four times during the regular season as part of the Pacific Division. Edmonton was anticipating the Kings’ 1-3-1 defensive structure.
Dylan Holloway, recently called up from the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, started on the third line for Edmonton. LA’s Carl Grundstrom was activated from LTIR to play on the fourth line in Game 1.
The first period kicked off with the Oilers aggressively attacking the LA offensive zone. However, they missed two open chances in the first four minutes. Around the seven-minute mark, Connor McDavid showcased an incredible spin-o-rama move around an LA defender before passing the puck to Zach Hyman, who fired it past Cam Talbot, giving Edmonton a 1-0 lead.
Just three minutes later, Adam Henrique extended the Oilers’ lead to 2-0 with a wrist-shot goal that beat Talbot on his short-side blocker. It marked Henrique’s first playoff game since 2018 and his first playoff goal in 4,333 days, the longest gap between playoff goals by a player in NHL history.
Tensions escalated as the period progressed, with several scuffles breaking out after whistles. Despite the Oilers’ surge, Talbot kept the Kings in the game, and Henrique’s tripping minor near the end of the period would carry over into the second.
The Oilers started the second period on a penalty kill due to Henrique’s carryover penalty. Stuart Skinner made a remarkable save on Viktor Arvidsson’s breakaway after a turnover. Following this save, Connor McDavid once again set up Zach Hyman in front of the net, who scored his second goal of the game, extending the lead to 3-0.
The Kings’ situation worsened when Phillip Danault took an undisciplined penalty, putting them on the penalty kill. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins capitalized on the opportunity, scoring a powerplay goal assisted by McDavid and Draisaitl, making it 4-0.
The Kings managed to close the gap to three goals when Trevor Moore screened Skinner, allowing Mikey Anderson’s shot to find the back of the net. However, Toronto overturned the goal due to Trevor Lewis illegally batting the puck into the net with his glove, which proved to be a momentum killer for the Kings.
Later, Adrian Kempe scored a fortunate goal that deflected off Bouchard’s skate on a broken play, trimming the deficit to 4-2. In the final minute of the period, Trevor Moore took out the big defenseman Vincent Desharnais, resulting in a powerplay for Edmonton that would carry over into the third period.
At the start of the third period, Leon Draisaitl regained a three-goal lead for the Oilers with a slap shot from his usual position on the powerplay. Zach Hyman then completed his first career playoff hat-trick with a powerplay goal assisted by Connor McDavid, increasing the lead to 6-2.
The Kings showed resilience, scoring two goals to narrow the deficit to 6-4. However, Warren Foegele put the game to bed with an empty-net goal, giving Edmonton a 7-4 victory.
Throughout the game, the Kings struggled to implement their 1-3-1 structure and gifted Edmonton too many powerplays, which the Oilers ruthlessly exploited by scoring three goals out of four opportunities. Connor McDavid made history by tallying five assists in a playoff game, becoming the first player to do so since 1988. Bouchard also had an impressive night, contributing four assists.
The second game of the first round between Edmonton and LA is scheduled for Wednesday night at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, and will begin at 8:00 PM MTN on TBS/SportsNet.
