Connor Brown had a goal and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers punched their ticket through to the second round of the playoffs with a wild 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.
“There’s a high sense of belief we’re never out of a game, we’re never out of a series; we showed that last year, we continue to show that this year,” Brown said after the win.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse, Zach Hyman and Trent Frederic each had a goal and an assist and Adam Henrique also scored for the Oilers.
“Go down the list — we had guys step up,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. “It wasn’t our best, but we found a way tonight and that’s what good teams do.”
“You need everybody feeling good about themselves and everybody should.”
Edmonton won four straight to take the best-of-seven series in six games. The Oilers will take on the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round.
Quinton Byfield, Brandt Clarke, Jordan Spence and Anze Kopitar replied for the Kings, who have now been booted by the Oilers in the first round in four consecutive seasons.
Los Angeles hasn’t won a playoff series since 2014, when it defeated the New York Rangers to win the Stanley Cup.
Calvin Pickard made 23 saves in net to record the win, while Darcy Kuemper stopped 23-of-28 shots for the Kings.
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“Obviously the first two games weren’t our best, and then I came in in Game 3 — we played pretty well in all of them,” Pickard said. “I was just trying to make the saves when I could, do my job and trust my teammates that they were going to do theirs, and we did.”
“We weren’t as crisp defensively as we were in Game 5, but we found ways to score goals and then lock it down at the end,” Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse said.
The goals came fast and furious to start the contest with four goals in the first six minutes. The Kings scored on their first shot just 1:19 into the first period as Kevin Fiala sprung Byfield on a breakaway and he sent his third of the post-season past Pickard.
Edmonton tied it up 3:04 into the first frame as Brown took a shot through traffic that hit Henrique up high and caromed into the net for his first of the playoffs.
However, the Kings responded just 33 seconds later on just their third shot on Pickard as a low percentage shot from Clarke appeared to deflect off Nurse’s stick and went up high and in for his second of the series.
The Oilers tied it up again at the 5:55 mark of the opening period on the power play as Connor McDavid made a nice cross-ice feed to Nugent-Hopkins and he rifled in his third goal. It was the fastest four goals of any game all season and Edmonton became the first team in NHL history to record two game-tying goals in the opening six minutes of a playoff game.
Edmonton took its first lead with seven minutes to play in the frenetic first as a long shot by Nurse was deflected in by Hyman for his second to make it 3-2.
The Oilers grabbed a two-goal lead with five minutes left in the second period as Nurse took his time before beating Kuemper with a wicked wrister from distance for his first of the post-season.
Edmonton then padded its lead with 3:25 to play in the middle frame as Brown dropped it back to trade deadline acquisition Frederic and he recorded his first as an Oiler.
The Kings made it 5-3 with two minutes left in the second as Spence scored his first on a one-timer from the slot.
Los Angeles pushed hard in the third and got within one with their goalie pulled and 55 seconds remaining as a Drew Doughty point shot hit Kopitar’s stick on its way into the net.
But Brown put the series away with an empty-netter as two seconds remained.
NOTES
In the last four playoffs, the Oilers are now 7-1 in series-clinching games — the only loss coming in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup final in Florida … Edmonton has defeated the Kings in each of the past six potential series-clinching games between the two teams dating back to Game 6 of the 1991 Smythe Division Finals … Edmonton has only come back from a 2-0 series deficit one other time in team history, when it defeated the San Jose Sharks in six games in the second round in 2006.
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