By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Edmonton Oilers suffered a heartbreaking loss in the series opener against the Los Angeles Kings, 6-5, in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena.
The Oilers came close to pulling off a big comeback after a slow start. This team gets better as the game goes along because of its style of play. However, the Oilers couldn’t complete their comeback story.
It’s the fourth consecutive year that the Oilers and Kings meet in the Stanley Cup Playoffs opening round. The Oilers have won the last three series. The Kings are looking to write a new script and have gotten off to the right track.
The Kings scored the first goal of the game and came on a power play in the first three minutes. The crowd erupted. It was a rip-in goal by Andrei Kuzmenko.
At the end of the first period, The Kings scored their second goal by Quinton Canfield on a wrist shot.
In the second period, the Kings went up 3-0 at 5:13. Adrian Kempe put the puck on the net. Three minutes later, the Kings struck again when Phillip Danault scored the fourth goal of the game after taking advantage of the Oilers’ turnover.
The Oilers would get on the board with 04.7 seconds left in the second period after a slap shot goal by Leon Draisailt. Mattias Janmark scored the second goal for the Oilers to cut the deficit to two in the third period. It looked like all momentum was going Edmonton’s way until Kevin Fiala answered for the Kings to make it 5-2.
It’s the playoffs. The Oilers will not go down easily. They will fight to the end. Zach Hyman, Corey Perry, and Connor McDavid scored three goals in the period to help the Oilers tie the game and make it competitive. McDavid shocked the Kings when he tied the game, and the arena went quiet.
Once again, momentum looked like it would shift back to the Oilers. What happened? The Danault Effect! Danault scored his second goal of the game with 42 seconds remaining, eventually becoming the game-winning goal.
The Oilers might be the better team, but the Kings made them work in this game. If the Oilers don’t make adjustments for Game 2, this is going to be another long series.
The Oilers must work on being physically stronger, having a better offensive zone, and reducing turnovers for their next game.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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