It’s the same story once again for the Los Angeles Kings, who have been eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the opening round by the Edmonton Oilers; it’s the fourth consecutive season that they’ve suffered that fate.
Thursday night’s 6-4 loss sealed the fate of the Kings, who initially led the series two games to zero before the Oilers roared back to life with four consecutive victories.
The Oilers are now headed for a second-round date with the Vegas Golden Knights, while the Kings are once again left to pick up the pieces.
The Kings Have Now Been Eliminated In the Playoffs By the Oilers for Four Straight Seasons
The scoring came early and often for both teams in the opening 20 minutes of play, as the Oilers took a 3-2 lead into the first intermission thanks to goals from Adam Henrique, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman; the Kings countered with goals from Quinton Byfield and  Brandt Clark.
Darnell Nurse and Trent Frederic gave the Oilers a 5-2 lead with goals in the second period, only to have Jordan Spence cut the lead to two goals late in the frame.
While Kings’ team captain Anze Kopitar gave the club some life with a goal with 55 seconds left in regulation, Edmonton’s Connor Brown sealed their victory with an empty net goal with goaltender Darcy Kuemper on the bench for a sixth attacker.
3 Kings Who Failed To Stand Out in Playoff Elimination Loss to Oilers
#1. Darcy Kuemper
The first truly poor outing for the Vezina Trophy finalist in the series, Kuemper picked a bad time to have his worst game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
He was victimized five times on just 28 shots, finishing the game with a subpar .821 save percentage, a far cry from his performance earlier in the series.
Kuemper was one of the few players on the Kings roster who can’t have their efforts questioned in the final four games of the series, but they needed more from him in what was their first and only elimination game.
#2. Adrian Kempe
After scoring 33 goals for the Kings during the regular season and four goals through the first five games of the postseason, Kempe was nowhere to be found in the final and most important game of the year.
Kempe finished the Kings’ season-ending loss against the Oilers with zero points while managing only a single shot on goal. He also finished with a -1 rating and a giveaway.
#3. Mikey Anderson
It was not a good night for most of the Kings’ defense, notably for Mikey Anderson.
He finished with a -2 rating, which was the worst among all Kings blue liners in their season-ending loss to the Oilers; he was caught out of position and behind the play multiple times and also provided nothing offensively.
For Anderson and the rest of the Kings, it’s going to be a long and uncomfortable offseason.
