Another six-goal loss to Edmonton leaves L.A. two games from elimination, but there are lessons to be learned.
LOS ANGELES — Maybe the Kings just aren’t ready for this yet.
The Kings’ margin for error was slim anyway. A plus-three goal differential for the season suggested a team that wasn’t going to overpower anyone, and season-long issues with the power play and the penalty kill have resurfaced in the postseason, dramatically. There was hope in downtown L.A. on Friday night, and the place was rocking after the goals by Anze Kopitar and Danault, and when the Kings had yet another power play toward the end of the second period. But atmosphere doesn’t make up for all those other imperfections, and the home team let that opportunity slip away and then had their noses rubbed in it with three third-period goals by the Oilers.The question was, “How do you explain the swing between the first game and the last two.
Or maybe not. None of those five wins came against playoff teams. Now they are facing an opponent with star power, depth, and the motivation of exorcising its own playoff demons after early exits the last two years.
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