The Edmonton Oilers have a chance to move on to the second round at home.
On Tuesday evening, the Oilers and Los Angeles Kings played a pivotal Game 5, with the winner earning a stranglehold on the series. Thankfully, it went in favour of the Oilers as they dominated the Kings and won the game 3-1. Let’s take a look at what happened in this one!
Just over three and a half minutes into the second period, the Kings scored the game-opening goal on the power play. Kings’ captain Anže Kopitar took a shot from the point, and Andrei Kuzmenko tipped it past Calvin Pickard to open the scoring.
It was a successful day for players whose last name starts with a K. After the Oilers’ power play just over six minutes into the period, John Klingberg had a terrific zone keep and found Evander Kane in the slot. He ripped it and with a little help from a Kings’ stick, beat Darcy Kuemper to tie the game at one.
The Janitor always shows up in the postseason. Just over seven minutes into the third period, the Oilers had a rush. Of course, it was Viktor Arvidsson leading it, which led to his patented slapshot. Kuemper initially saved it, but the rebound squeaked out to Mattias Janmark, who buried his second of the postseason.
All of Oil Country finally relaxed with just under a minute left in the game. After the Kings had sustained zone time looking for the equalizer, the Oilers were finally able to put the puck into the empty net to seal the game.

Takeaways…

The series isn’t over. While the Oilers have all the momentum and head home, we’ve seen in the past several postseasons a 3-2 series lead being erased. A good example of that came in the 2022 postseason, where the Kings won Game 5 in overtime, but the Oilers stormed back to win the next two. They can’t take their foot off the pedal. 
If that wasn’t the most complete game the Oilers have played all season, I don’t know what was. From start to finish, the Oilers throttled the Kings, both in terms of shots and dominating the play. The only reason this game was close was because of Darcy Kuemper, who saved 43 of 45 shots.
With that being said, Calvin Pickard had a good game in his own right, saving all but one of the 22 shots he faced for a .955 save percentage. It’s hard to see the Oilers going back to Stuart Skinner at any point this postseason.
The Oilers needed a defenceman to step up in the absence of Mattias Ekholm and John Klingberg has done just that. He’s gotten better each game he’s played in the postseason and his keep in at the blue line on the goal in the second period was massive.
Speaking of players who’ve gotten better as the series has gone on, what a nice surprise Evander Kane has been. He scored the game-tying goal in the second period, his second of the postseason, but was all over the ice. A healthy and rested Kane is a good Kane.
I don’t know what it is, but every single postseason, Mattias Janmark elevates his game. His game-winning goal in the third period was his second of the postseason, as many as in 80 regular season games.
At some point in the series, the Oilers needed a win in L.A. They did just that tonight, which is rather impressive. This season, the Kings were 31-6-4 in their home rink. With that being said, the Kings are going to come out flying in Game 6, so the Oilers have to be prepared for that because Game 7 in L.A. doesn’t sound great.
Overall, it was a great game for the Oilers from start to finish. Game 6 will be played on Thursday at 8:00 PM MT in Edmonton, with the Oilers having a chance to finish off the Kings’ season for the fourth straight year.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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