April 22, 2025 by Ryan Lotsberg

Game 1 looked like a stinker for the Edmonton Oilers through 40 minutes, but that ended up being an unbelievable finish! The Los Angeles Kings built up a 4-0 lead in the second period. They were in full control. The Oilers had only been able to muster six measly shots at the halfway point of the game. 

Leon Draisaitl finished off a sensational play by Connor McDavid to get the Oilers on the board with six seconds left in the second period. With that, the Oilers had life. It took a frenetic charge by the Oilers late in the game, but they were able to tie the game at five 1:28 left in the game.

Unfortunately for the Oilers, Philip Danault put a halt to any thoughts of an Oilers comeback to rest when his fanned shot attempt found its way past a screened Stuart Skinner with 42 seconds left. That ended up being the winner in a 6-5 thriller of a win for the Kings.

Call Outs

I’ll start with the obvious one here because I know people are angry about the goaltending the Oilers got in Game 1. There were a lot of defensive miscues in front of Skinner, but it’s fair to ask your number one goalie to bail the defence out sometimes. I recall one such instance in Game 1. Skinner didn’t have a chance on either of the Kings’ two powerplay goals. Kempe made a nice move on him in a one-on-one situation on their third goal. He was caught out of position and was unable to recover in time to stop Quinton Byfield from banking one in off his shoulder on the 2-0 goal. There was a bad giveaway on the fourth goal (more on that shortly), but that was ultimately a shot from the high slot with no traffic that everyone knew was about to happen before it happened. Skinner could’ve been more aggressive in cutting down the angle on that play.

Then there was the game winner. It was a play the Oilers have fallen victim to repeatedly this season where the forwards drive the two defencemen back and leave the puck in a soft spot high in the zone. The puck rolled on Danault as he took the shot, and it popped into the air with just enough pace to get by Skinner. Warren Foegele drove the net and screened Skinner effectively. I have a hard time criticizing goalies on things like change-ups and tips because they’re so tough to react to, but I can’t help but feel Skinner didn’t fight through the screen to track the puck well at all on that play.

Ultimately, six goals is far too many to allow in a playoff game, and that dribbler at the end took a hard earned comeback away from the team.

Evan Bouchard had a tough second period. He followed Anze Kopitar behind the Oilers net during a scrambly sequence in the defensive zone. That left the slot wide open for Adrian Kempe to finish an easy goal that put the Kings up 3-0. 

A few minutes later, Bouchard received a reverse pass behind the Oilers net from Brett Kulak. He passed it right out into the slot with no Oilers defender present, and Danault made no mistake. There was clearly some miscommunication with McDavid on that play, but that pass shouldn’t have happened. Bouchard ended up with three assists on the night, but he was a big part of the reason the Oilers ended up being so far behind.

This was Jake Walman’s second career playoff game, and the first one in which he played a meaningful role. He made a few good defensive plays and laid a couple of big hits, but he took the physicality a little too far at a crucial moment. The Oilers has climbed to within two goals early in the third period, and they were about twenty seconds away from a big penalty kill. Walman then took a cross checking penalty after the whistle. It was a soft call, but it was needless act by Walman, especially at that moment. Kevin Fiala restored the Kings’ three-goal lead on the ensuing five-on-three. Walman will learn from that seemingly little mistake that had big consequences.

Standouts

It’s not often that I lead this section off with anyone other than McDavid, and tonight won’t be any different. McDavid breathed life into the Oilers by spinning off of Drew Doughty and finding Draisaitl for a one-timer late in the second period. He took the Oilers off life support again in the third period when he attacked a small opening in the Kings zone and found Corey Perry in his office for the 5-3 goal. Later, McDavid found himself with a chance to race off the half wall in a six-on-five situation, and he found Zach Hyman in perfect position to make it 5-4. Then he took what seemed like an ill-advised pass from Draisaitl in the neutral zone, beat three Kings defenders wide, and slid one five-hole on Darcy Kuemper to tie the game at five. McDavid put the team on his back and nearly dragged them to an epic comeback.

Shout Outs

Draisaitl and Perry each had multipoint nights in Game 1. They were both key figures in the comeback bid.

Mattias Janmark only scored two goals in the regular season. One was an empty netter, and the other went in off his rear end. He scored a huge goal early in the third period to get the Oilers within two goals of the Kings.

Jeff Skinner gets a shoutout for playing in his first career playoff game after 1,078 regular season games without having played in one. He got an assist on Janmark’s goal.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse, and Josh Brown were out for the vast majority of a two minute long five-on-three penalty kill in the third period. They did a tremendous job on what turned out to be a ginormous kill.

Wrap

Playoff hockey is fantastic, isn’t it? It didn’t go the Oilers’ way tonight, but that game had all the gut wrenching drama you could ask for out of a Game 1 in round one.

It was looking like it was going to be a long night and a short series based on the first forty minutes of Game 1. The Kings simply dominated the Oilers in the first two periods. The Kings’ defence was stout, and their increased aggressiveness on the forecheck got them some added offence.

The Oilers made some familiar mistakes, such as giveaways leading to high danger chances and low quality goaltending. The fact that three defencemen played 24:58 or more while the other three didn’t crack twenty minutes is a bit concerning if the idea is to go on a long run here.

The good news for the Oilers is that they were able to break through the Kings defence and through Kuemper for five goals in the last twenty minutes and six seconds of play. The other piece of good news is that you’re never in trouble until you lose a game at home.

The Oilers will have a chance to get the split in California on Wednesday night.

Related: Oilers vs Kings IV: Series Preview