Forget structure. Forget systems. For one chaotic, thrilling Thursday night at Rogers Place, the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings traded goals like it was pond hockey at Hawrelak Park.
In a series-clinching 6–4 win that had echoes of the legendary 10–8 Kings win in 1982, the Oilers leaned on grit, depth, and some timely chaos to eliminate Los Angeles for the fourth straight year and punch their ticket to Round 2.
Game 6 opened with four goals in the first six minutes, and though Edmonton’s stars were quiet — Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard managed just one assist between them — the team’s depth stood tall. Connor Brown led the charge with a goal and two assists in what McDavid called his “best game as an Oiler.”
“This one feels good,” McDavid said. “We’ve been through the grind with these guys, and we just weren’t going to be denied.”
Edmonton dropped the first two games of the series, then stormed back with four straight wins, including a pivotal Game 3 comeback and a gut-check finish to Game 4. The Kings, once again, had no answer.
“They should’ve had us,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said postgame. “But we don’t flinch.”
Calvin Pickard, the unlikeliest of playoff goalies, improved to 4–0 in the postseason — the only netminder with a perfect record. Meanwhile, goals from unlikely heroes like Darnell Nurse, Trent Frederic, and Adam Henrique highlighted a balanced attack.
Now the Oilers shift their focus to a second-round matchup with the Vegas Golden Knights, the team that knocked them out in the second round two years ago. After reaching the Stanley Cup Final last season and falling to the Florida Panthers, Edmonton enters Round 2 with more experience — and more to prove.
The stars will need to rise. But if this series proved anything, it’s that Edmonton might finally have the team behind the talent.
“We’ve won a lot of different ways,” said Brown. “This one was chaos — but it was our kind of chaos.”
Is this finally the year Edmonton figures it out?
