Angeles Analysis – Game 6

So that’s that.

I suppose on paper this is supposed to be an analysis of Game 6. But with Game 6 came the end of the 2024-25 LA Kings season. So it’s hard just to focus on that.

This series was a missed opportunity. 100 percent, as Jim Hiller agreed last night. There is no doubting that. There’s a lot that went into why the Kings were unable to seize the opportunity in front oft hem. Fact of the matter is, when you lead the series 2-0 and hold leads in the third periods of Games 3 and 4, you have to win that series. Simply have to. There’s just no way around it and it’s just not acceptable that the Kings weren’t able to get the job done.

Of the four years the Kings have been involved in this matchup, this one should hurt this most. Because this team was good enough. In 2022, the Kings couldn’t just come out and say they were just happy to be there but ultimately I think that was the case. Losing in seven sucked for the group and for Dustin Brown but looking at that team on paper, it overachieved, based on a lot of things, including Brown’s influence. In 2023, I think the team was good enough to win the series, but they weren’t better than Edmonton. Last year’s team, it always felt like a hope that they could get it done, not a belief.

This year’s team had the belief. They also had enough talent. This team was good enough to win the series and you can make the case they were the better of the two teams on the ice. I thought going in that, top to bottom, the Kings were better than the Oilers. I don’t leave the series feeling any differently. That’s why it should hurt the most. It’s not because the Kings lost to a better team. It’s because they didn’t. That’s what makes this one the worst of the four, hands down.

Game 6 was the end of the road. The Kings had their chances last night to extend the series to seven games. With the game 3-2 Oilers, the Kings had around 20 minutes between the end of the first period and the start of the second period to get the next goal. Had ample chances. Anderson craashing in late first period. Foegele breakaway early in the second. Danault/Moore 2-on-1. Pickard made the stops and then once Edmonton got their goals at the end of the second, it just created a hill that was too tall to climb. Ultimately, though, hat’s not where the series was truly lost for me. You have to look at Games 3 and 4 as the reasons why.

If the coaches challenge in Game 3 is your moment, I won’t argue with you. It was the wrong decision and the Kings lost on a pivotal moment in the game. For me, though, it was not the moment I’ll look back on. If the Kings do not challenge, it’s a 4-4 game with six minutes left, playing 5-on-5 hockey. While I’d have taken that over the alternative, it’s not as if the Kings were in the driver’s seat in that moment, after defending for the better part of that period. It’s hard to just get it going again after sitting back for that long of a time. If the Kings don’t challenge, they still would’ve been up against it, but it certainly would’ve been better. If that’s the defining moment for you, though, no issues here.

For me, it’s Game 4. Hands down. I could tell in speaking with Adrian Kempe last night that it was Game 4 for him also. The Kings led 3-1 entering the third period of Game 4. The goal that made it 3-2 was a crappy bounce. It happens. Between 3-2 and 3-3, though, came several opportunities to close out the game. They didn’t come to fruition and the Kings wound up losing in overtime. For so many reasons, for me, Game 4 was the missed opportunity much more than anything that happened in Game 3. Whether you point to a style of play that was too passive, open nets missed, defensive lapses, the bench being overly short or whatever else……that was the biggest missed opportunity of the series in my opinion. It’s haunting. I also think Game 4 may have carried into Game 5 more than anyone would admit. You get smacked, fine. Those are easier to put behind. But losing a game that the Kings invested so much into, playing their heavy-minute players as much as they did only to come up empty hurts. I think we saw some of the after-effects of that in Game 5, which to me makes Game 4 the most problematic one of the series. The team did reset for Game 6 and credit where credit is due there, but the damage had already been done.

In the coming seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks there will be a lot of conversation. Already has been, certainly. Who should be fired or replaced. Who should be re-signed or traded. What changes need to be made to change the ending to a familiar story. And those conversations are natural and expected when you lose in the first round of the playoffs for the fourth year running. The comments will always remain open for those types of conversations and they won’t be moderated, as long as they remain within site rules. They won’t be the areas I’ll engage in, at least not until exit interviews are conducted and we have some clarity on what’s to come. But there’s a space here for those conversations to be had and by all means, feel free to have them.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Have some bigger picture thoughts in my head I’ll share tomorrow morning. But not a ton more on a series that I think will go down as the most disappointing of the last four years.