Game 6 Preview – Kings Prepared To Face Adversity + Third Period Leads, Elimination Game Tightness, Black Aces

WHO: Los Angeles Kings vs. Edmonton Oilers (Oilers Lead Series 3-2)
WHAT: 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Round 1, Game 6
WHEN: Thursday, May 1 @ 7:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Rogers Place – Edmonton, AB
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FanDuel Sports Network & ESPN – AUDIO – ESPN LA 710 & ESPN LA App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Kings face elimination for the first time this season, as Edmonton carries a 3-2 series lead into Game 6 on home ice.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Adrian Kempe collected an assist on the only Kings goal in Game 5, as he became the first Kings player since Jeff Carter in the 2014 Western Conference Finals to collect double-digit points in a single series.

In hitting the mark in just five games played, Kempe tied Wayne Gretzky (1991) and Daryl Evans (1982) for the fewest games in franchise history to collect 10 points in a series. Overall, Kempe is tied with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl for the overall lead in playoff scoring.

KINGS VITALS: Following yesterday’s travel day to Edmonton, the Kings hit the ice for a full-team morning skate here this morning at Rogers Place.

No questions as to who will start in goal tonight for the Kings, with Darcy Kuemper entering tonight’s Game 6 off back-to-back stellar performances. With 160 saves in all situations, Kuemper ranks second in the playoffs behind only New Jersey’s Jacob Markstrom, who has played 32 more minutes. Kuemper has made 87 of those saves over his last two games, including 43 in Game 5.

The Kings took the following line rushes during today’s morning skate –

Kuzmenko – Kopitar – Kempe
Foegele – Danault – Moore
Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere
Malott – Helenius – Turcotte

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Spence
Edmundson – Clarke
Moverare – Burroughs

Kuemper
Rittich

The Kings made two lineup changes for Game 5, with defenseman Jordan Spence and forward Alex Turcotte re-entering the lineup. Jim Hiller complemented the energy both players brought, highlighting Turcotte’s drawn penalty and willingness to forecheck. Based on rushes, not expecting any lineup changes, but that is unconfirmed as of this writing. Could potentially go 11/7, as they did in Game 2, with Jacob Moverare the likeliest option in that scenario.

OILERS VITALS: Edmonton also opted for a full-team morning skate today in advance of tonight’s Game 6.

Per Tony Brar of Oilers TV, here’s how the hosts lined up this morning –

EDM lines – Thurs. Morning Skate:

Draisaitl – McDavid – Perry
Kane – RNH – Hyman
Frederic – Henrique – Brown
Podkolzin – Janmark – Arvidsson

Extras: Skinner, Kapanen, Jones, Ryan

Nurse – Bouchard
Walman – Klingberg
Kulak – Emberson

Extras: Stecher

Pickard
Skinner#Oilers

— Tony Brar 🚀 (@TonyBrarOTV) May 1, 2025

While the Oilers don’t appear to be making any lineup changes, the lines they used in morning skate before Game 5 were altered between the morning and the game that evening. So, take what is shown above for what you will. Seems to be the same 18 skaters in tonight’s lineup, with goaltender Calvin Pickard in net once again.

Storyline Of The Day – Gotta Be The Kings Tonight
Pretty simple.

If the Kings go out and play the way they did for the bulk of Games 1 – 4, they’ll certainly have a good shot at winning tonight and forcing a Game 7. If the team from Tuesday is what they’ve got tonight, it’ll be over in six games. Simple as that.

“We didn’t have our best last game, but other than that, I think we’ve had some good showings [in this series],” forward Trevor Moore said this morning. “We’ve just got to win a game tonight.”

Before the series began, the question most players were asked was what makes this Kings team different than the past three years.

It’s felt different, certainly, throughout the course of the season. This team has felt like the best the Kings have had in the four years they’ve been in this matchup. The best chance to get over the hump that has been Round 1. But none of that really matters unless they win tonight. If you’re different then go be different.

“If the team looks and feels different, [in Game 6], they should look and feel like the team you’re describing, that’s what I think,” Head Coach Jim Hiller said. “There’s nothing to prove. There’s just go out and be that team who’s been different – in your words – all season. I think that’s a compliment to them and I think they’ll be ready for that.”

I think back to the summer, when General Manager Rob Blake spoke about his desire for his team to get uncomfortable. He was referring more to moments within games, making the plays that help win games but are uncomfortable to make. I think it applies today, though. This is an uncomfortable situation, after losing three consecutive games in a playoff series. The Kings have that winning game within them. But facing elimination for the first time this season, facing a building that will be electric with the chance to advance, facing a team that played its best hockey of the series in Game 5……doesn’t get much more uncomfortable than that.

If this team is different, tonight they will look like the team we saw come out in Games 1 – 4. Because a different team would look at an uncomfortable moment, a difficult situation, and dig in. This morning, this was a team that seemed unfazed. That’s the right start.

Tuesday night was a team that clearly didn’t have it. Was not having it for Tuesday night and Tuesday night alone? Or was not having it a sign of a team that invested so much into the first four games with their heavy-minute players that there’s less in the tank than the opponent? That’ll be answered tonight. Adversity, without a doubt. How the Kings handle it will determine their season.

“I think we’ll handle it really well,” defenseman Drew Doughty said this morning. “Lives are on the line. We didn’t play a good game last game and we always respond with a good game back. So, we’re excited for this game, we’re confident and we’ve got to go get one win to start.”

The Kings looking like the Kings again doesn’t mean they’ll win the game. It just means it won’t look like Game 5, when a 3-1 scoreline was quite flattering. No guarantees in this business. But if the Kings deliver the type of performance that we saw for the majority of Games 1 – 4, they will put themselves in a position to win the game.

And if they are in that position, a team that is different will take advantage, unlike what happened in Games 3 and 4, which were both extremely winnable for the Kings. Can’t change the past but can change the future. One opportunity to do that in Game 6 tonight.

“We’ve rebounded all year,” Moore added. “Whenever we’ve had kind of a stinker, we’ve always come back with a really good effort. The character in this room is really strong. We’re going to give it everything we have.”

3 To Watch For –
– The Kings have trailed heading into exactly zero third periods in this series to date.

They led in Games 1, 2, 3 and 4. They were tied in Game 5. Yet, Edmonton holds a 3-2 series lead.

The common consensus has been a team that’s sat back too much in those moments. Defenseman Drew Doughty said it’s a conversation the Kings have had internally. Forward Trevor Moore said they expect to be in that situation again, meaning leading through 40 minutes. Both Doughty and Moore spoke about sitting back not being the game plan. About staying aggressive. About trying to make plays to win the game when in those moments.

Doughty – Earlier in the third, not sitting back, not flipping pucks out so much, that’s one thing that we’ve talked about. That’s not our game plan, it’s just human nature. Guys don’t want to make a mistake in those situations. We didn’t change anything, we just need to make more plays.

Moore – They’re going to have pushes, they have really good players and I don’t think we want to start straying from good structure or anything like that, but we want to stay aggressive. We want to keep pressure on their D and make their guys play in the d-zone.

Jim Hiller spoke about similar things this morning.

Sitting back is not the instruction being given to the team.

“I don’t know of any coaches that ever in those moments say ‘let’s just back up and protect this lead’, everybody says let’s get going,” Hiller said. “We want to be aggressive in those situations. I think that’s probably everybody’s game plan, but from time-to-time, the moment takes over, the other team pushes hard and you find yourself on your heels. That, to me, is in every sport that’s around, that happens. You try to avoid that as best you can.”

Hiller pointed to Game 5, when by everyone’s admission the Kings played poorly. After going down, though, the Kings have their most offensive zone time of the game. Same happened in Game 3, when the Kings saw 4-3 up become 5-4 down, very quickly. They pushed immediately back and established play in the offensive zone.

If the Kings play their game, they’ll come out tonight and potentially themselves in that moment once again. If it plays out that way, they’ll try to practice what they preach to get the game over the line.

– What type of game should we expect tonight?

If history is an indicator, a close one. Elimination games carry a natural aroma of being tight.

In 2022, the Kings had the chance to win in six but lost what was a one-goal game all throughout, with an empty-net goal making it a 4-2 final. Same goes for Game 7 in Edmonton, which was 1-0 throughout before a late McDavid goal made it a 2-0 final. In 2023, Edmonton won the series in six games with a late, one-goal victory before they closed out last year’s series in five games by a 4-3 final score.

These types of games come with extra risk and sometimes extra caution on both sides as a result. It’s led to, historically, tight games in those moments.

“I think that happens a lot in these games,” Jim Hiller said. “You look at Game 7’s historically, or even elimination games, it’s just tight. You saw it in this 4 Nations tournament, everybody thought we can see all these goals, but it gets tight and people just concentrate on checking or managing the risk. When you don’t give up easy offense, it’s hard to score goals or to create chances in the league.”

I think that philosophy is natural. I am expecting a tight game tonight by the score, but not a tight game in terms of how the Kings want to come out and play. The plan is to come out and skate. To forecheck. To get pucks in and go to work at the offensive end of the ice and when it goes the other way, it’s about skating back and tracking, something that the Kings have done at an elite level this season.

I think it’ll come down to one goal with the playing leading to those decisive moments being extremely magnified. So far in this series, the Kings have lost most of those moments, despite controlling a lot of the play. But should they find themselves in that situation in Game 6, they’re prepared to execute it.

– Lastly, Insiders, a recognition of the team’s Black Aces, who were recalled yesterday from the AHL’s Ontario Reign.

This is not a group of players expected to feature in tonight’s game, but could perhaps factor in down the line, depending on the duration of the Kings’ playoff run, injuries and team performance. The following six players were recalled from the AHL to serve as Black Aces for the remainder of the playoff run for the Kings.

G: Pheonix Copley
D: Caleb Jones
F: Andre Lee, Francesco Pinelli, Jack Studnicka, Taylor Ward

Lee, Ward, Jones and Copley have all featured for the Kings this season, while Studnicka has NHL experience. Pinelli is one of the team’s top forward prospects in the AHL who took a sizeable step forward this season. If the Kings can keep things going, these are names to keep in the back of the mind going forward.

The important word, though, is IF. That depends on securing a result tonight in Game 6, which would force a decisive Game 7 on Saturday in Los Angeles.