This 12 months appeared prefer it simply is perhaps completely different for the Los Angeles Kings. They had been a greater group than the Edmonton Oilers within the common season, and it remained that method by means of the primary two video games and two durations 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 dwelling 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 end result 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 enjoying elite protection towards an offense that wasn’t very deep exterior of some massive weapons. The Los Angeles offense, which had been bettering down the stretch, bought 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 transferring ahead. Whether or not its personnel, teaching philosophy or participant utilization, let’s check out what went mistaken 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 means of two video games, however then that firepower in Edmonton actually ignited. McDavid, Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard took over the sequence late in Recreation 3, they usually did not look again.

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

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 a number of instances on this sequence. Kevin Fiala is a talented playmaker within the offensive zone. Anze Kopitar is without doubt one of the greatest 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 with regards to producing prompt offense.

Within the closing 4 video games of the sequence, McDavid and Draisaitl mixed for 14 factors. Bouchard contributed a mixed 4 targets 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 should be aggressive in his pursuit of really elite playmakers. These gamers do not develop on bushes, however a few latest Stanley Cup champions (see: Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights) have managed to attach on massive personnel swings.

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

Philosophy

One other obvious drawback 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 enjoying to its identification, and Los Angeles was very efficient at shutting down opponents with late leads within the common season, however that technique is somewhat more durable to execute towards an Oilers group that may rating within the blink of a watch.

After practically getting burnt by making an attempt to park the bus in Recreation 1, the Kings form of rolled that plan out to various levels in Video games 3 and 4 after 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 respiration 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 sort of shutdown strategy with late leads has been a characteristic of the Kings, relationship again to when Todd McLellan was the coach from 2019 to 2024. When Jim Hiller was promoted to that position, 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 towards the most effective 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 towards a group as deadly because the Oilers. Nevertheless, Los Angeles in all probability might 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 completely different Kings averaged over 20 minutes of ice-time per sport. Solely six Oilers noticed that form of enjoying time. The difficulty for Los Angeles was that a lot of these gamers, particularly veteran defensemen, weren’t efficient sufficient whereas they had been within the sport.

As an example, Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson drew the powerful task of coping with McDavid’s line. Nearly as good as that duo was within the common season, they struggled in that matchup. The Oilers managed greater than 75% of the anticipated targets with McDavid on the ice towards 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 beneath even at five-on-five as effectively.

These outcomes immediate questions on why the very expert and really cellular (albeit younger) duo of Jordan Spence and Brandt Clarke wasn’t deployed extra usually. 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 might have supplied an offensive enhance from the again finish. These two mixed for 61 factors within the common season.

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