Waking up with the Kings: April 5

The Los Angeles Kings remained committed to their game plan in a 6-4 win over the visiting Edmonton Oilers, turning a first period in which they were able to generate quality scoring chances (though not a surplus in shots on goal) into actual scoring, putting five past Cam Talbot before sealing the game with an empty-netter. It was an unfortunate start for Los Angeles, which was placed on penalty killing detail on the game’s second shift. Though there was a Kopitar-Toffoli two-on-one and a near Adrian Kempe break that Andrej Sekera dove to break up, it was Milan Lucic finishing off a play in which Connor McDavid sped into the attacking zone and turned Derek Forbort around quickly before his centering pass opportunistically ended up on the ex-King’s stick. After Jordan Eberle found Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Edmonton doubled its lead – credit Nugent-Hopkins for a strong two-goal effort, and Eberle for one of his most noticeable games against L.A. – the Kings headed into the break trailing by two in a period they held a slight scoring chance advantage and had won 16 of 18 faceoffs in. Battling through their familiar inability to finish, they broke through for three goals in the second period based largely on the play of their youth. Paul LaDue made a nice box-out to win a loose puck in the low slot before advancing it through the neutral zone to Dustin Brown, who took a hit to make a play along the boards in setting up Nick Shore’s redirection of Jonny Brodzinksi’s chance. After some nice interplay between Shore and Brown tied the game at two, Brodzinski made one of his most noticeable plays in the NHL when his physical play along the boards sent McDavid to the ice, and after winning the puck battle, Kyle Clifford’ netfront move and backhanded shot was cleaned up by Nic Dowd to give Los Angeles its first lead of the night. Other than Brown, 26-year-olds Dowd and Clifford were the oldest Kings mentioned in these scoring plays.

It’s always easy to say this the morning after a player notches four points, but Nick Shore is having a moderately encouraging season. He hasn’t quite developed a goal scoring stroke that had been theorized after he recorded 34 goals in 106 AHL games through his 21 and 22-year-old seasons, but there’s still some room to grow for a player whose work, detail and preparation has helped to forge a high level of trust with the coaching staff, and at 24, he’s still young. In conversations with Darryl Sutter, Shore’s absence as he dealt with an upper-body injury during the recent seven-game home stand was referenced as a significant blow to the checking play the team receives from its depth forward group. There has always seemed to be a chemistry Shore and Brown have built up both on and off the ice, and while it’s a waste of time theorizing personnel alignment six months in advance of the 2017-18 season, their partnership is something that should be considered. (Counterpoint: In their 104:17 of 5×5 ice time together this season, the Kings have scored 0.58 G/60 and have surrendered 4.03 G/60.) The 22-21-23 line was on the ice for all three even strength goals against last night, but they were still an effective group pushing the team’s attack.

So, are the Oilers the team Kings fans are rooting for to be the last Pacific Division team standing? We all know what fans thing of the Ducks and Sharks, and over the last two weeks, certain players on the Flames. For Smythe Division enthusiasts, is such a thought heresy? A better question: Does Edmonton have the defense capable of winning tight-checking playoff games? Is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins able to endure the highly physical match-ups against Pacific Division centers? Who do you favor in an Oilers-Sharks series? Talk amongst yourselves, Insiders.