Phillip Danault scored his second goal with 42 seconds to play, and the Los Angeles Kings blew a four-goal lead before rallying for a 6-5 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in the opener of the clubs’ fourth consecutive first-round playoff series Monday night.
“Connor and Leon made some really good plays to get us back in that game,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the loss.
“5-on-5, I thought we had a lot of time in the offensive zone — didn’t get enough chances. And then some breakdowns that led to goals against.”
The Kings led 5-3 in the final minutes before Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid tied it with an extra attacker. Los Angeles improbably responded, with Danault skating up the middle and chunking a fluttering shot home while a leaping Warren Foegele screened goalie Stuart Skinner.
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Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and two assists in his Stanley Cup playoff debut, and Adrian Kempe added another goal and two assists for the second-seeded Kings, who lost those last three series against Edmonton. Los Angeles became the fourth team in Stanley Cup playoffs history to win in regulation despite blowing a four-goal lead.
Quinton Byfield, Phillip Danault and Kevin Fiala also scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 20 saves in his first playoff start since raising the Cup with Colorado in 2022.
Los Angeles has home-ice advantage this spring for the first time in its tetralogy with Edmonton, and the Kings surged to a 4-0 lead late in the second period in the arena where they had the NHL’s best home record. That’s when the Oilers woke up and made it a memorable night: Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Janmark and Corey Perry scored before Hyman scored with 2:04 left and McDavid scored an exceptional tying goal with 1:28 remaining.
McDavid had a goal and three assists for the Oilers, who reached Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season. Skinner stopped 24 shots.
“Could be sharper, obviously,” Oilers forward Zack Hyman said.
“Gave up too many opportunities. They were better than us in the special teams, obviously there. Special teams is huge. We took too many penalties, obviously. Some I didn’t think were penalties, but it is what it is. But, as a group, we could collectively be a lot sharper.”
Game 2 is Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
Until Edmonton’s late rally, Kuzmenko was the star. Los Angeles went 0 for 12 on the power play against Edmonton last spring, but the 29-year-old Russian — who has energized the Kings since arriving last month — scored during a man advantage just 2:49 in.
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