Angeles Analysis – Game 1

I thought I had the story down for this morning.

As I watched last night’s Game 1, I had a pretty defined direction that I thought the story was going to go. Because the game was unfolding a certain way. Pretty clear, I felt. Even as the teams traded goals in the first half of the third period, I thought the storyline stuck. Until it didn’t. And man did it not. But that’s playoff hockey, baby.

That was playoff freakin’ hockey.

The Kings did not make it easy. They didn’t close down the game the way they should have. The way they’re capable of. And they know that. But in the postseason, they don’t award style points. There’s no goal differential. There’s only wins and losses. And for the Kings, coming out of Game 1, they ultimately walked away with exactly what they came to get and that was a 1-0 series lead, holding home-ice advantage in their first opportunity to do so.

The story I planned to write was this – For most of that game, I felt it was the most in control of a playoff game this team has been in four years. Through 39 minutes and 55 seconds, the Kings felt in full control. I’d even say through 55 minutes it felt pretty comfortable. Sure, Edmonton pushed early. Sure they had their chances. But the Kings dictated the terms that the first 40 minutes of the game were played on and looked extremely comfortable in doing so. Last night’s game, through 40 minutes, didn’t feel like the Kings had to elevate very much to match the occasion. It’s felt the opposite for three years. But last night, it felt like they just did their thing and did so convincingly. Just another Kings hockey kind of performance.

Until it wasn’t.

All of a sudden, what once felt fully in control went completely off the rails. As Edmonton pulled their goaltender for a 6-on-5 advantage, trailing 5-3, the Kings had, what, five chances to hit the empty net and ice the game? They failed to do so. After Zach Hyman scored to make it 5-4, the Kings looked shellshocked. Connor McDavid’s goal made it 5-5 on a team that looked to not know what hit them. But then a little bit of magic saved the day.

And that’s what the playoffs are all about.

In yesterday’s game preview, I tagged Kevin Fiala as the X-Factor for the series. Fiala had a great night, minus his miss on the empty cage, with two points, both on the power play. I still think that pick is solid for the series and that Fiala is the difference maker. But the X-Factor last night was without a doubt Phillip Danault.

For three seasons, come the postseason, Danault has been utilized almost exclusively in a shutdown role. Offense secondary to the tall task of containing McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, sometimes both, depending on the shift. Danault had his share of those matchups last night, logging eight minutes against McDavid and four against Draisaitl in 5-on-5 situations. What he wasn’t, though, was defensive. He was opportunistic.

Despite matching up for that much time against those two players, Danault was on the ice for just three shots on goal against in more than 14 minutes, 5-on-5, compared to a team-high nine shots on goal for. He also made the most of the two shot attempts he had individually.

With the Kings leading 3-0, Danault was quick to pounce on a turnover in the slot and he used his shot to make it 4-0. When 4-0 became 5-5, the Kings turned to Danault’s line to stop the bleeding. It’s been the most trusted line over the last three months in shutdown situations. They didn’t shut it down, though. They went out and won the game.

Danault said after the victory, with a big laugh, that he “got all of it” on the shot. Quinton Byfield called it a “rainbow” shot, like he scored a couple times as a youth hockey player. Also with a smile. But the weirdness of the shot doesn’t take away from the play Trevor Moore made to maneuver through the neutral zone and find a trailing Danault. Doesn’t take away from Warren Foegele’s drive to the net, through the slot, which created the space. Doesn’t take away from Danault’s willingness to be aggressive as a trailer, instead of sitting back and trying to limp into overtime. The Kings went for it, in that moment, and they got rewarded.

That shot certainly won’t set any speed records. But it’ll go down as the game-winning goal and to this point, it’s Danault’s biggest goal in a Kings jersey. Because it came at a time when the Kings absolutely needed it, in a series this team feels confident it can win. And it was great to see Danault, who scored just eight goals this season, find the winner at a pivotal moment in the game.

In my series preview on Sunday night, I pointed to three moments – one in each of the last three years – that the Kings could have swung the series in a different direction. One of those moments was Game 4 in 2023, when the Kings surged to a 3-0 lead through 20 minutes but ultimately lost 5-4 in overtime.

A game that forward Quinton Byfield referenced last night. Byfield took it back to that night two years prior, pointing out that the Kings led by a large margin and lost. That game turned what could’ve been – should’ve been – a 3-1 series lead into a 2-2 tie, heading back to Edmonton. He referenced that game to preach the “no lead is safe” line. And that’s true. But I think it also shows some real growth from this group when it comes to playoff hockey.

Tonight’s game wasn’t a Game 4, with a series lead. It was Game 1. But two years ago, the Kings couldn’t handle the momentum swings, as 3-0 became 3-3 and 4-3 in the final minutes of regulation became 4-4. The latter essentially happened again last night. Such is playoff hockey. But this team found a way to change the ending and they’ve got the advantage to show for it.

In this series, the Kings will have that pivotal moment once again. I don’t know if Game 1 carries that type of a moment but can you imagine the sentiment this morning if the Kings lost after leading 4-0? Disastrous. Finding a way to get the job done in the playoffs, overcoming emotional moments and massive momentum swings is a part of the job for teams that want to progress. The Kings haven’t done a good enough job when the going’s gotten tough over the past three seasons. Last night, while it wasn’t pretty all the way home, they showed a lot of toughness to get the game over the line. And as we head from Game 1 into Game 2, we do so with a 1-0 series lead for the Kings. And that, ultimately, is a job well done.