Takeaways from LA Kings’ 5-4 OT win vs Edmonton Oilers in Game 5

The LA Kings earned a hard-fought Game 5 overtime win, 5-4, on Tuesday. Three takeaways from a pivotal night in the series.

It was do-or-die, and the LA Kings chose to do it.

The Edmonton Oilers have never lost a series when winning Game 5 in a 2-2 series, so the Kings made sure that didn’t happen with a MASSIVE win in overtime to take the 3-2 series lead with a chance to close it out in DTLA.

Game story (here).

The Kings came out very strong right off the bat, with Troy Stecher registering his second goal in as many games with a bomb of a slapshot on Mike Smith to give the Kings the early lead.

In the second period, Connor McDavid dangled the absolute snot out of Jonathan Quick and gave the puck to Zack Kassian for the most straightforward open net goal to tie the game at 1-1.

Later in the period, off of a failed clearing attempt by Duncan Keith, Adrian Kempe found himself with his first career playoff goal to regain the lead for the Kings.

Minutes later, Andreas Athanasiou found himself with the puck alone in front of the net and outwaited Smith before burying it, giving the Kings the two-goal lead going into the third period.

In the third period, the Kings found themselves in penalty trouble early, with a Connor McDavid goal to bring them back within one.

Phillip Danault returned the favor on a double-minor with a power play goal, but Leon Draisaitl scored shorthanded to wipe out any impact of the Danault plan.

Draisaitl tied it up on the power play late in the game, forcing overtime.

Early in overtime, Adrian Kempe sped into the zone and found the back of the net for his second goal, bringing this series back to Los Angeles with a 3-2 lead.

“I think we’ve shown all year, that we’ve got a great identity as a team,” Kempe told media in the post-game about blowing the lead late and recomposing for overtime.

Three takeaways

1. Stay out of the box…

The Kings have done a great job of containing Draisaitl and McDavid at even-strength, but none of that matters if you give them opportunities on the power play, which happened on Tuesday night.

Of the Oilers’ four goals, two were power play goals, both in the third period, from guess who? Draisaitl and McDavid.

It’s not easy to stop them when they’ve got the man advantage, so heading into Game 6 in LA, you need to make sure you’re not taking any unnecessary penalties.

“I liked our game, but part of the game is power plays and penalty kills […]. Those are areas where we have to be better,” head coach Todd McLellan said following the game. He noted that the McDavid goal was good, but the Draisaitl goal was preventable.

2. Identity stands strong

All season, the story of the Kings has been identity. That showed on Tuesday night.

You’d think it would be a backbreaker for them after blowing a two-goal lead in the third period and two of the league’s top superstars being full of momentum.

However, they came out guns blazing in the overtime and scored the third quickest goal to start an overtime period in playoff franchise history.

“Great start by Phil’s line and the D that were out there. Kept it in their zone for a minute,” Kempe said in the post-game interview. “I think we’ve shown all year that we’ve got a great identity as a team.”

“The older leadership in the locker room that has been there before was calm,” McLellan said in the postgame.

These guys are known for their strength and ability to stay alive no matter what, and that’s what they did in Game 5.

3. Kings need to pressure Duncan Keith

This is not the Duncan Keith we saw in Chicago. Not even close, and the Kings need to take advantage of that.

Keith was abysmal all game; it’s been wrong with his terrible turnover to Iafallo on the clearing attempt and his brutal defensive positioning on the overtime game-winning goal.

When he’s out there, the Kings need to drive to the net and take advantage of the fact that he’s usually a step behind everybody.

Los Angeles can close out the series on their home ice on Thursday night.