Coming off their worst playoff defeat in 32 years, the Kings kept in mind that they accomplished a split and the tilting of home-ice advantage in Edmonton as they returned home to host the Oilers in Game 3 Friday.
“We came here to win a game and we did. Now it’s time to go home and take care of business,” team captain Anze Kopitar said.
All three of the Kings’ worst postseason losses in franchise history have come in Edmonton, and the previous two proved harbingers of elimination. On Wednesday, they fell 6-0 in large part because of lopsided special-teams play.
“It’s a seven-game series. I think we knew going in we weren’t going to go 16-0 in the playoffs,” defenseman Matt Roy said. “We just need to put it behind us and move forward.”
The Kings hadn’t been “drilled,” as Coach Todd McLellan put it, in the playoffs so badly since 1990 when they lost 7-0 in Game 1 of the second round. Their worst playoff loss came three years earlier, a 13-3 pounding that saw Wayne Gretzky score seven points, tie a single-game playoff record for assists with six and surpass Montreal’s Jean Beliveau to become the all-time leader in postseason scoring.
Wednesday’s loss bore stronger resemblance to the 1990 calamity. Edmonton got seven goals from six different players then and six goals from five skaters on Wednesday. Both losses represented stark and abrupt declines for the Kings, who had pulled off a historic upset of defending champion Calgary in 1990 –– including a 12-goal outburst and thrilling double-overtime clincher –– only to be swept by Edmonton. This week, the Kings took Game 1 with a gutsy performance, then fell totally flat after a solid first period on Wednesday.
In both prior instances, the Kings failed to win another game in the series, being eliminated in five games in 1987 after winning Game 1. This year’s Kings, however, have prided themselves on resiliency.
After what McLellan described as a 9-3 “beatdown” in Colorado, the Kings seized the moment by winning five straight games and closing the season on a six-game points streak. Their longest string of wins this season came on the heels of their longest winless slump. In the second half of 2021-2022, they lost more than two games in a row just once, even as they dealt with a multitude of injuries and effectively stood pat at the trade deadline.
“We seem to be pretty quick learners,” Kopitar said. “We’ll look at it, make some adjustments, address some things, improve in a few areas and be ready for Game 3.”
During the regular season, the Kings allowed six goals or more nine times across 82 games. Five of those losses became losing streaks, three were followed with a single victory and one preceded a longer surge.
If the Kings are hoping their bounce-back ability carries over from the regular season, they may simultaneously be dreading that their worst stretches of special-teams play may do the same. After out-scoring Edmonton on special teams during four regular-season meetings, they are already down 5-0 in the series in terms of special-teams goals, including four they have given up on the power play.
Winger and 20-goal scorer Viktor Arvidsson (undisclosed) should be considered questionable for Game 3. He could provide a boost both a man up and a man down given that he can contribute in all situations. The Kings have not produced a man-advantage marker with a goalie in the opposing net since April 21, and their most recent prior power-play goal came 11 days before that. Their penalty kill has been porous thus far, too, ceding two power-play tallies in each game of the series.
For Edmonton’s part, they were thrilled to end an ignominious streak of their own, that of seven consecutive playoff losses. Goalie Mike Smith had been even colder, having lost 10 straight postseason decisions dating back to 2019 when he played for the archrival Flames.
While the Oilers’ skill was on display frequently, their physical play was also noticeable. They had 13 more shot attempts than the Kings and also piled up 48 hits. Edmonton captain Connor McDavid, who led the NHL in scoring for four of the past five campaigns, dished out four hits and took a boarding penalty.
“When your captain is throwing his weight around, it pulls everyone into the fight,” Smith said. “I’m sure every team talks about any time you get a chance to get a lick on one of their players, it’s a long series, and that can pay dividends in a long series.”
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV/Radio: Bally Sports West, TBS/iHeartRadio
