Oilers vs. Kings Game 5 Information

• Date: Tuesday, April 29, 2025
• Start Time: 8:00 PM MT
• Location: Los Angeles, California
• Venue: Crypto.com Arena
• Watch: CBC/Sportsnet (Canada), TBS (USA), Sling (Stream)

Projected Line Combinations

• Oilers: The blender was out during Game 4 as the Oilers battled back from a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3 in overtime. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl played roughly 15 minutes together at even strength with Zach Hyman, Evander Kane, and Corey Perry as the rotating third forward. McDavid also played a few shifts with Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on his wings while Draisaitl played with Viktor Arvidsson and Vasily Podkolzin. The Oilers also again relied heavily on five defencemen, as Ty Emberson played under nine minutes while Evan Bouchard, Brett Kulak, Darnell Nurse, John Klingberg, and Jake Walman all played over 25 minutes.
• Kings: A story for the Kings in this series has been the team leaning on nine forwards and four defenders. The top defensive pairing of Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson has logged 27 minutes per game on average, veterans Joel Edmundson and Vladislav Gavrikov are playing around 23 or 24 minutes per night, while Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence have seen 12 and six minutes per game, respectively. Los Angeles’s top three forward lines are playing between 19 and 23 minutes per game on average and their fourth line gets used sparingly. It’ll be easier for them to play with a shortened bench at home, but it gets harder as the series wears on.

Projected Starting Goaltenders

• Oilers: Two starts, two wins for Calvin Pickard since taking over as the starting goalie for Stuart Skinner. Both wins saw the Oilers fall behind before rallying in the third period, and both wins saw Pickard’s play improve as the game went along. He allowed seven goals between Games 3 and 4, and none of them came during the third period.
• Kings: Darcy Kuemper was announced as one of the finalists for the Vezina Trophy on Monday. Though Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets will likely be the unanimous winner, this is the highest Kuemper has ever finished in voting for the award. Through his first season with the Kings, the 34-year-old posted a 31-11-7 record with a .921 save percentage. He has a .881 save percentage through four games in the playoffs thus far.

Thoughts and Notes Going into Game 5

• From L.A.’s perspective, blowing a 3-1 lead to the Oilers in Game 4 was awfully similar to what happened in the first-round series between the two teams a couple of years ago. The Kings had a 2-1 series lead heading into Game 4 at home in 2023 and got out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. Jack Campbell came into the net for Stuart Skinner after the first and proceeded to have perhaps his best moment as a member of the Oilers, stopping 27 of 28 shots as Edmonton came back to win 5-4 in overtime.
• Over at Kings Insider, Zach Dooley noted that the Kings have continually struggled to put the Oilers away when they have the opportunity to do so: “Before the series, I wrote about moments within each of the past three series. In 2022, 2023 and 2024, as you look back, the Kings were faced with moments that could have rewritten history. In 2022, it was Game 6 at home, tied 2-2 in the third period with a chance to clinch. In 2023, it was a 3-0 lead early in Game 4 at home, leading the series two games to one. Last season, it was Game 4 at home, a 0-0 game late, in full control, with the chance to tie the series. (Sunday) had an eerie similarity to Game 4 in 2023, in that the Kings firmly had the opportunity to take a stranglehold on the series and weren’t able to do so. A 3-0 lead lost is larger than 3-1, but this was 3-1 in the third period, as opposed to 3-0 after 20 minutes.”
• After that comeback win in 2023, the Oilers finished the Kings off with a 6-3 win at home in Game 5 and a 5-4 win on the road in Game 6. The difference this time around, of course, is that the Oilers need to steal a win in Los Angeles to pull ahead in this series. During the regular season, Los Angeles went 31-6-4 at home and beat Edmonton in both games at Crypto.com Arena.
• Despite the challenge of beating the Kings on the road, the Oilers are confident they can win this series for the fourth year in a row: “We’ve got a strong belief in here,” captain Connor McDavid said post-game on Sunday. “We have a strong belief that we’re never out. People keep doubting us, and we keep putting ourselves in bad spots, but we’re digging our way out, trying to find ways to win games. Obviously, we found a way. Not the recipe for success, but I’m proud of everyone and how we found a way.”

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