The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 5-4 on Saturday night to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Kailer Yamamoto scored his first playoff goal with 3 minutes, 2 seconds remaining, securing the win for the Oilers after the Kings tied it at 7:46 into the third period. Phillip Danault took advantage of Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner breaking his stick to score a short-handed goal.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl also scored for the Oilers in Game 6, and Klim Kostin had two goals and an assist. Skinner stopped 40 shots. Kevin Fiala had a goal and two assists for the Kings, while Adrian Kempe and Sean Durzi also scored.
Oilers to face Vegas Golden Knights in next round
The Oilers will now face the Vegas Golden Knights in the next round. The Oilers won three of the four regular-season meetings, but the Golden Knights won the Pacific Division by two points on the way to the top seed in the Western Conference. McDavid acknowledged the tough challenge ahead, saying, “Vegas played great in their first round, and it’s going to be a tough series, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft expressed confidence in his team, saying, “We’re sure of ourselves. It’s OK that there’s going to be some drama in the story.” The Oilers have a strong record when scoring first in potential series-clinching games, including a 12-3 record when doing so on the road.
The Kings have been eliminated in their past four first-round series and haven’t won a playoff series since 2014. Despite the disappointment, Los Angeles forward Anze Kopitar expressed optimism for the future, saying, “The progress of this team is good, and we’re moving in the right direction. Hopefully, we learn from this and come back stronger next year and make it a better run.”
Overall, McDavid praised his team’s resilience throughout the series against the Kings, saying, “It’s always so hard, especially in the first round. L.A. is such a good team. They seem to match up so well against us. And I thought we were resilient throughout the series.” The Oilers will need to continue to be resilient as they face the Golden Knights in the next round of the playoffs.
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