This 12 months appeared prefer it simply is perhaps totally different for the Los Angeles Kings. They had been a greater group than the Edmonton Oilers within the common season, and it remained that manner by the primary two video games and two intervals of the postseason.

The Kings had been attempting to snap a three-year playoff dropping streak to the Oilers, and that appeared just like the possible consequence after they took Video games 1 and a couple of on house ice. Then the wheels got here off for Los Angeles. The group suffered 4 straight losses, two of which got here after blowing third-period leads, and the outcome was the identical it has been yearly since 2022.

This newest postseason drubbing by the hands of the Oilers is perhaps probably the most painful. The state of affairs arrange completely for the Kings. They had been taking part in elite protection in opposition to an offense that wasn’t very deep exterior of some huge weapons. The Los Angeles offense, which had been bettering down the stretch, received to face an Edmonton blue line that was with out shutdown defenseman Mattias Ekholm.

In objective, the Kings had a determined edge. Darcy Kuemper is a Vezina Trophy finalist, and Stuart Skinner had been extraordinarily inconsistent from begin to end.

Regardless of all that, Los Angeles could not get the royal blue and orange monkey off its again. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and firm proved to be an excessive amount of for the Kings to beat but once more.

I will not dive into the “definition of madness” cliche, however suffice to say one thing has to alter for Los Angeles shifting ahead. Whether or not its personnel, teaching philosophy or participant utilization, let’s check out what went improper for the Kings and what must be tweaked.

Personnel

This matchup was all concerning the Kings’ depth versus the Oilers’ firepower. That depth appeared just like the protected wager by two video games, however then that firepower in Edmonton actually ignited. McDavid, Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard took over the sequence late in Sport 3, and so they did not look again.

The Kings’ difficulty is not merely that they lack McDavid. Be a part of the membership. Thirty different NHL groups have the identical downside.

Los Angeles simply does not have sufficient dynamic offensive stars — gamers who can create their very own scoring probabilities on a constant foundation. Adrian Kempe is a superb shooter as he confirmed just a few occasions on this sequence. Kevin Fiala is a talented playmaker within the offensive zone. Anze Kopitar is among the finest two-way forwards ever, and Quinton Byfield is on that very same trajectory. All that mentioned, none of these gamers come near McDavid or Draisaitl relating to producing on the spot offense.

Within the last 4 video games of the sequence, McDavid and Draisaitl mixed for 14 factors. Bouchard contributed a mixed 4 objectives in pivotal wins in Video games 3 and 4.

If the Kings are going to capitalize on the championship window they’ve opened, then common supervisor Rob Blake have to be aggressive in his pursuit of actually elite playmakers. These gamers do not develop on timber, however a few current Stanley Cup champions (see: Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights) have managed to attach on huge personnel swings.

This offseason, the NHL wage cap will take one other huge leap, and that might facilitate some motion in free company and on the commerce market. The Kings must be proper in the midst of that as they attempt to load up for the very sensible chance that they see the Oilers once more within the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Philosophy

One other obvious downside for the Kings on this sequence was how they dealt with third-period leads, notably in Video games 3 and 4. I can perceive a group taking part in to its identification, and Los Angeles was very efficient at shutting down opponents with late leads within the common season, however that technique is a little bit more durable to execute in opposition to an Oilers group that may rating within the blink of a watch.

After almost getting burnt by making an attempt to park the bus in Sport 1, the Kings form of rolled that plan out to various levels in Video games 3 and 4 once they entered the third interval with the lead. After a aggressive first 40 minutes during which the Kings had been on their heels and took benefit of a depleted Edmonton protection, they tried to depend on their two-way forwards and veteran defensemen.

That did not work in any respect. McDavid and the remainder of the Oilers’ high weapons feasted, taking any little bit of respiratory room the Kings would give them as Los Angeles tried unsuccessfully to defend the ice in entrance of Kuemper.

The numbers from Pure Stat Trick paint a stark image of the Kings’ third-period collapses in Video games 3 and 4.

That kind of shutdown strategy with late leads has been a characteristic of the Kings, courting again to when Todd McLellan was the coach from 2019 to 2024. When Jim Hiller was promoted to that function, he saved the identical identification. That identification has received the Kings lots of common season video games, nevertheless it clearly has its shortcomings when attempting to shut out video games in opposition to probably the greatest groups within the West.

It is comprehensible {that a} group just like the Kings would need to keep away from taking too many dangers late in opposition to a group as deadly because the Oilers. Nonetheless, Los Angeles in all probability may have saved its foot on the accelerator a bit extra in an try and put Edmonton on its again foot in high-leverage conditions.

Participant utilization

To his credit score, Hiller did attempt to lean into the depth benefit his group had within the sequence. 9 totally different Kings averaged over 20 minutes of ice-time per sport. Solely six Oilers noticed that form of taking part in time. The difficulty for Los Angeles was that lots of these gamers, particularly veteran defensemen, weren’t efficient sufficient whereas they had been within the sport.

For example, Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson drew the powerful task of coping with McDavid’s line. Pretty much as good as that duo was within the common season, they struggled in that matchup. The Oilers managed greater than 75% of the anticipated objectives with McDavid on the ice in opposition to Doughty and Anderson at five-on-five, per Pure Stat Trick.

Doughty and Anderson weren’t alone, although. The opposite veteran defensive pairing of Joel Edmundson and Vladislav Gavrikov had been under even at five-on-five as nicely.

These outcomes immediate questions on why the very expert and really cell (albeit younger) duo of Jordan Spence and Brandt Clarke wasn’t deployed extra typically. These two averaged 7:31 and 12:47 minutes per sport, respectively. Coaches are at all times reluctant to make use of younger defensemen in vital moments, particularly within the playoffs, however that pairing may have offered an offensive enhance from the again finish. These two mixed for 61 factors within the common season.

On the very least, Spence and Clarke may have eaten some extra minutes within the earlier parts of video games in order that gamers like Doughty and Anderson would have a little bit extra fuel left within the tank whereas attempting to shut out wins. The youthful defensemen might very nicely have struggled as a lot as everybody else, however they in all probability deserved an extended leash than they received.