Kings eliminated from playoffs due to lopsided special teams, goaltending

EDMONTON -- The Los Angeles Kings were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers with a 4-3 loss in Game 5 of the best-of-7 Western Conference First Round on Wednesday.

This marks the third consecutive season Los Angeles has been eliminated by Edmonton in the opening round of the playoffs. The Kings lost in seven games in 2022 and six games last season.

Los Angeles (44-27-11) was third in the Pacific Division this season, five points behind Edmonton (49-27-6), which finished second.

The Kings' only win against the Oilers in the series was a 5-4 overtime victory in Game 2 with captain Anze Kopitar scoring the winning goal.

Los Angeles has not won a playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup in 2014.

The Skinny

Potential unrestricted free agents: Viktor Arvidsson, F; Trevor Lewis, F; Matt Roy, D; Cam Talbot, G; David Rittich, G; Aaron Dell, G; Pheonix Copley, G

Potential restricted free agents: Blake Lizotte, F; Carl Grundstrom, F; Quinton Byfield, F, Arthur Kaliyev, F; Jordan Spence, D

Potential 2024 Draft picks: 4

Here are five reasons the Kings were eliminated:

1. Lost special teams battle

Los Angeles did not score a power-play goal in the entire series (0-for-12) and allowed Edmonton to go 9-for-20 (45.0 percent) with the man-advantage. The Kings had the second-best penalty kill in the NHL during the regular season (84.6 percent), but had no answers for the Oilers.

Each team scored 12 even-strength goals in the series, but two of those in Game 5 for Edmonton came as penalties to center Pierre-Luc Dubois and defenseman Drew Doughty had just expired and neither had gotten back into the play.

“I thought 5-on-5 we were pretty consistent outside of turning the puck over in Game 3, which got us into trouble,” Kings interim coach Jim Hiller said. “When you evaluate this series, it was our inability to score on the power play and their ability to score on the power play. It’s a pretty simple write-up in this one. You saw one team execute on special teams and one team didn’t.”

2. Couldn’t contain McDavid and Draisaitl

Connor McDavid had 12 points (one goal, 11 assists) and Leon Draisaitl had 10 points (five goals, five assists) as Los Angeles was unable to keep Edmonton’s dynamic center duo in check.

McDavid opened the series with five assists in Game 1, becoming the 13th to have that many in a playoff game and first since Geoff Courtnall with the St. Louis Blues in 1998.

McDavid had nine points (one goal, eight assists) on the power play and two more when penalties to Dubois and Doughty had just expired. McDavid became one of five players in NHL history to have 100 assists in a season (32 goals, 132 points in 76 games) and the pass-first trend continued in the playoffs.

Draisaitl had three power-play goals in the series and scored twice in Game 5. He also had two game-winning goals.

3. Average goaltending

Cam Talbot and David Rittich were not bad for Los Angeles, but the Kings needed their goalies to steal a game or two in the series. Talbot played the first three games and gave up 16 goals on 115 shots for a 5.30 goals-against-average and .861 save percentage before being replaced by Rittich in Game 4.

Talbot allowed six goals on 44 shots in a 7-4 loss in Game 1, and made 27 saves in the 5-4 overtime win in Game 2. He didn’t have much help in a 6-1 loss in Game 3, when he allowed six goals on 40 shots. Rittich started Games 4 and 5; he allowed one goal on 13 shots in a 1-0 loss in Game 4, and four on 26 shots in Game 5.

Talbot, Rittich and goalies Aaron Dell and Pheonix Copley each is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent July 1.

4. Dubois struggles

Los Angeles invested heavily in Pierre-Luc Dubois, acquiring the center in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets on June 27, 2023 and signing him to an eight-year, $68 million contract (average annual value $8.5 million).

Dubois scored one goal in the series, awarded to him in Game 1 after his centering pass bounced in off the skate of Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse with the Kings trailing 6-2 at the time.

The 25-year-old was expected to be a factor in the series, but ended up being demoted to the fourth line by the end of it. After he had 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 82 games during the regular season, Los Angeles was looking for more from Dubois in the playoffs than a single point.

Dubois had a team high 20 penalty minutes in the series, including a 10-minute misconduct in Game 3.

5. Lost coaching duel

In a battle of first-year coaches each making his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut, Hiller was second best to Kris Knoblauch.

Knoblauch was able to get the most out of his lineup and kept his lines consistent through the series. Hiller could not find the right combinations throughout the series and switched goalies in Game 4 without success.

Los Angeles went to a more aggressive forechecking system in Game 4 and played its best game of the series, outshooting Edmonton 33-13, but still lost 1-0.

Hiller was reluctant to make changes to his power-play unit, hoping it would be able to work out of its slump, but it never did. With the season over, Hiller’s future with the Kings is uncertain.