Kings Withstand Historic Oilers Comeback for Game 1 Victory

The Los Angeles Kings made it incredibly difficult on themselves, but they defeated the Edmonton Oilers to take a 1-0 series lead. The fourth consecutive meeting in the postseason between the Pacific Division rivals began in epic fashion, as the Kings survived a historic comeback attempt from the Oilers to secure a 6-5 victory.

The Kings controlled the opening contest against the Oilers for the first 38 minutes of action. They stormed out to a 4-0 lead after a power-play goal from Andrei Kuzmenko kick-started the offensive attack. The Oilers had never come back from a four-goal deficit in the NHL playoffs.

But in the final minute of the second period, the Oilers showed life. Superstar center Leon Draisaitl recorded his first of the postseason and planted seeds of doubt in the Kings' locker room.

The final frame was absolute pandemonium. The Oilers scored early in the third period, but the Kings answered back to increase their lead to three goals again.

That's when Oilers' captain Connor McDavid took off. He factored in on three straight goals for the Oilers, including the game-tying tally with one and a half minutes remaining in regulation. The goal capped off a historic comeback from the Oilers, marking a franchise first and pushing the game to the verge of overtime.