Remember how low we felt after the Los Angeles Kings cleaned up against the Edmonton Oilers early and ran away with games 1 and 2? Remember how we were already making offseason trades and dissecting the corpse that was our 2025 playoff run? Classic sports, right? That’s what made Thursday’s 6-4 series-clinching win all the more hilarious after our boys came roaring back in the series with four straight wins to close things out yet again. Four straight years. Hilarious.

On an elimination night when Connor McDavid registered only a single point and Leon Draisaitl was held off the scoresheet, the rest of the Oilers’ lineup came through with six goals from six different players. That’s the kind of depth scoring that wins games in the playoffs, and having this many guys chip in with goals is an indescribable gift. Simply put, the Kings couldn’t defend four lines that were buzzing when the bulk of their strategy seemed to revolve around shutting down Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. And when you’ve got six different goal scorers chipping in at key moments, that’s a near-impossible combination to stop, and the Kings couldn’t do anything about it.

What’s most impressive about this latest series win over the Kings is that it truly was a group effort. As much as McDavid and Draisaitl carried the team at times when we needed, which they always do, the contributions we got from the rest of the lineup were just as significant. This wasn’t a series where anyone could say that the Oilers are a two-person team when they got goals from 13 of the 20 players who suited up in the six games. That’s a marked change from what we’ve seen in past wins over the Kings, and a curveball that will be a handful for Vegas to handle if the boys can keep it going. While that’s a question for another day, all I know for sure is that the Oilers’ depth came through in a big way in Game 6, and it’s pretty damned awesome to see this team win on the offensive work of anybody other than our Dynamic Duo.

After Game 5, I wrote about how much fun it is to see Mattias Janmark crank up his play in the playoffs, so how could I not do the same for Connor Brown after what I’d argue was his best game as an Oiler? The guy was all over the ice in Game 6, and the Kings had no answers for him anytime he was out there. I mean, how else would you describe a night when he produced a goal — nailed the coffin shut — to go along with two assists, two shots, one block, one hit, and a +3 rating?

Brown was fantastic at even strength and on the penalty kill, and I can’t give the guy enough props for elevating his game this much when it matters most. Like Janmark, I don’t know what it is about this time of year that brings out the best in No. 28, but he’s again playing his best hockey of the season at the perfect time. When asked about Brown’s night, Connor McDavid agreed with what my eyeballs told me from section 231. “I thought Brownie had his best game as an Oiler today. He was fantastic.” Pretty good when your mom’s favourite blogger and the best hockey player on earth both saw the same thing, right?

When I got home from the game last night, I popped over to the Kings’ subreddit, and let me tell you, the meltdown happening in there is a work of art that I may enjoy for the next handful of days. There are people melting down about anything and everything, and I must have spent a solid 30 minutes cruising through post after post dissecting every moment that went wrong in this series. From Jim Hiller’s bozo coach’s challenge in Game 3 to his unwillingness to play more than a beer league team’s worth of players to dropping a 2-0 lead, the endless stream of gripes from Kings’ fans was as hilarious as it was satisfying after that same crew was already planning for the second round after winning games 1 and 2.

I don’t know that having one team dummy another team for four straight years in the first round is what the NHL had in mind when they switched to the current playoff format, but it sure is funny for those of us on the winning side. As much as I agree that the best rivalries happen after playoff matchups, I don’t know how you can call it a rivalry when the Oilers have dominated the head-to-head every time these two teams square off. If I didn’t think it was so funny, I would almost feel bad for Kings fans after suffering the same fate for four consecutive seasons. Then I remember that one of them threw a beer at me back in 2022, and then I start to laugh again. Good times. See you next spring, can’t wait for round five.

1. Bring on the Golden Knights. Revenge. Let’s get it.

2. Darnell Nurse takes a lot of shit around here, mostly because of his contract, and that’s why I always love seeing him come up with a clutch goal when his team needs it most. Nurse took a pass from Podkolzin in the high slot and and buried his chance up and over Darcy Kuemper, giving the Oilers some insurance at a point when everyone watching knew it was long from over. I think my favourite part of Nurse’s night may have come in his post-game presser when he was asked how year four against the Kings was different and he said, “We came in and you all thought we were going to lose, that was different.” Hilarious.

3. As if I’m not going to talk about Ryan Nugent-Hopkins coming up with a big game on elimination night after he scored a beautiful power play goal and added an assist (FACEOFF WIN!) on Zach Hyman’s deflection goal midway through the first period. I thought RNH needed to pick it up early in the series, and I’m pumped to see how he turned it around and finished the series with five points (3G, 2A) in six games.

4. Trent Frederic! Look, I know how there’s a chunk of the fanbase who thinks Stan Bowman overpaid for an injured asset — I get the logic — but I also can’t help but see a guy who’s been getting better every single night. Yeah, his first goal as an Oilers was a big moment, but he’s also giving us a lot of bang-and-crash and positive chaos every time he’s on the ice. Let’s hope the big fella still has more coming with a few more days of rest between rounds.

5. This wasn’t the best game we’ve seen our pal Calvin Pickard play, but he still did enough to out duel Darcy Kuemper for a fouth straight game. While Pickard’s .852 save percentage on 27 saves isn’t anything to write home about, the most important point of his night is that he was still the best goaltender on the ice, which was the case since he took over the crease in Game 3.

6. Adam Henrique greasy tip goal! My handsome king always seems to score when he’s crashing the crease, right? I just hope this first one gets the juices flowing as we head off to Vegas.

7. Courtesy of Reddit user r/TJTrapJesus, I learned that Connor McDavid led all scorers in a series (both teams) for the 7th time in 14 career series. OP followed with some additional context on how incredible this is by adding that Sidney Crosby has only led all scorers in six of his 32 playoff series. That’s a wild stat. Unbelievable.

8. I’m sorry to yuck your yum, but it’s my duty to report that the Oilers won only 41.8% of the faceoffs. I know. Not great.

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