LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 21: The Los Angeles Kings celebrate a goal scored by Los Angeles Kings Center Phillip Danault (24) during a game between the Los Angeles Kings game versus the Edmonton Oilers in the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 21st, 2025, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Rob Curtis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
GAME 1 FINAL – Kings 6, Oilers 5 – Danault, Kopitar, Byfield, Fiala, Hiller – LA Kings Insider
2025-04-22T07:19:34Z
The LA Kings took Game 1 in thrilling fashion, as they skated to a dramatic, 6-5 victory over the Edmonton Oilers to open up a 1-0 series lead in the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Los Angeles drew an early power play and they made the most of …
The LA Kings took Game 1 in thrilling fashion, as they skated to a dramatic, 6-5 victory over the Edmonton Oilers to open up a 1-0 series lead in the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Los Angeles drew an early power play and they made the most of their first chance of the postseason, as forward Andrei Kuzmenko scored his first career playoff goal to put the hosts ahead 1-0. Skating 5-on-4, forward Kevin Fiala moved in from the right-hand circle and fired a hard pass towards the back post, with Kuzmenko on hand to redirect the puck past Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner to get the hosts on the board 2:49 into the game.
Inside the final minute of the opening period, the Kings doubled their advantage via forward Quinton Byfield. After forward Kevin Fiala won a puck battle along the wall, the Kings worked it back to the point, with defenseman Mikey Anderson feeding his partner, Drew Doughty, with a cross-ice pass. Doughty’s shot was saved by Skinner but Byfield brought down the rebound and banked a shot off Skinner’s back and in for a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.
Just shy of 15 minutes into the second period, the Kings made it 3-0 as Kempe collected his second point of the game. Kuzmenko and forward Anze Kopitar each made strong plays below the goal line, with the former sliding the puck to the netfront, where Kempe collected, deked to the backhand and slotted his shot past Skinner for his 12th career playoff goal in 19 games played.
Nearly three minutes later, the Kings pulled ahead by four goals as forward Phillip Danault got in on the offensive action. Defenseman Evan Bouchard, at the end of a long shift, sent the puck directly into his own slot, into the path of Byfield and Danault. Byfield knocked the puck down into Danault’s wheelhouse and the veteran center shot glove side, past Skinner and in, for his first goal of the playoffs and a 4-0 advantage.
With fewer than five seconds remaining in the second period, Edmonton got on the board with a late goal. After forward Connor McDavid held Kopitar’s stick, gaining the inside lane in the process, the Oilers captain sped through the left-hand circle and fed forward Leon Draisaitl in the far circle, where the German forward one-timed his shot past Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper for his first goal of the series, bringing the score to 4-1.
Edmonton made it a 4-2 game less than two minutes into the third period, as forward Mattias Janmark scored his first goal of the series. Forward Trent Frederic has his shot stopped by Kuemper from a sharp angle, but he dug out the rebound and found Janmark on the right side of the crease, where he hit the back of the net to pull the visitors within a pair.
Skating 5-on-3 early in the third period, the Kings capitalized on the two-man advantage to score their second power-play goal of the evening. After Kopitar won the faceoff, Kuzmenko worked the puck back to Kempe at the center point. The Swede quickly fed Fiala to his right, where the winger fired a one-timer past Skinner and in for his first goal and second point of the evening, as the hosts took a 5-2 lead in the process.
Once again, the Oilers pushed back to bring the game back to within two goals, this time with forward Corey Perry opening his account for the series. Another high-level individual effort from McDavid saw him spin out of the corner with speed before he fed Perry through the crease for the goal, bringing the visitors to within 5-3 midway through the third period.
In a span of just 36 seconds, Edmonton scored twice with the goaltender pulled, in a 6-on-5 scenario, tying the game at five late in regulation. First, McDavid played the role of facilitator, as he fed forward Zach Hyman for a goal to the left of Kuemper, bringing the visitors within one goal. McDavid then tied the game with an individual effort of his own, as he danced down the right wing and scored five hole on Kuemper for his first goal and fourth point of the game, tying the game at five with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.
After conceding what was, at the time, three unanswered goals, the Kings found a dramatic game-winning goal inside the final minute of regulation to take Game 1 by a 6-5 final score. Forward Trevor Moore led the rush into the offensive zone, curled back and found Danault as the trailing player. Danault hit the shot first time and although he didn’t get all of it, the puck floated over Skinner and in for his second goal of the game and the team victory.
Hear from Danault, Kopitar, Byfield, Fiala and Hiller following tonight’s Game 1 victory.
Phillip Danault & Anze Kopitar
Quinton Byfield
On his takeaways from a roller-coaster victory in Game 1
We were up 4-0 and obviously we’ve got to do better job of closing that game out, but a win’s a win and we’ll take that, we’ll enjoy it and we’ll move on to tomorrow. This happened not last year but the year before. We had a [big lead] and they came back on us and ended up winning that game. No lead is safe in playoffs. We’ve got to learn from that and learn to defend it a little better.
On how he saw the game-winning goal develop
I was on the bench, I saw that play just developing. I saw Mooresie with a great skate down there, a couple drop passes there and great shot by Phil, just how he drew it up. Big sigh of relief for everybody, a lot of cheers on the bench and that’s just a big-time goal.
On his emotions in playing in a game like that to open the postseason
I’m still in shock with that whole game. Like I said, it’s playoffs. You’re up 4-0, 4-1 with the late goal there, so that gave them a little bit going into the third and then they came out and kind of came back, we got one, just lots of ups and downs. They tie it, you don’t know what’s going on, almost. Just glad that we came out with the win. Enjoy it tonight and then get ready for the next one.
On if he feels the Kings took their foot off the gas at all in the third period
Maybe a little bit, but they’ve got some world class players over there. When those guys get going, they get a lot of puck touches, some space, you let McDavid get some open ice, not good things happen for us. It’s playoff hockey, you’re just never out of it.
Kevin Fiala
On his takeaways from a roller-coaster victory in Game 1
Obviously we should have closed it out, but it’s playoff hockey. They have good players and they don’t give up either. So, I’m very proud of our group that we responded again, we didn’t back down. It’s 1-0 now, enjoy it, but move on.
On if he felt the Kings took the foot off the gas at all late in the third period
No, not that much. Obviously they made some nice plays. Obviously you always want to keep pushing and keep pushing, but we can learn from today, so hopefully that doesn’t happen next time.
On the notion of it not being over until it’s over
Exactly, especially against those kinds of teams. Just got to keep pushing, keep playing our game. When we played our game, I think they didn’t have much, so we just have to stay on top of it.
On seeing Phillip Danault score the game-winning goal
He did it all season long, even if you didn’t see it on scoresheet, he showed up. He worked so hard, such a good stick, he’s so hard to play against, he’s fast, he does all his little things, blocking shots, PK and getting rewarded today like that is awesome to see. He deserves it.
Jim Hiller
On his takeaways on the ending to the game and seeing a big lead evaporate before finding the winner
We made a couple of mistakes and they made a couple of really good plays. We did pretty well up until that point. They’re going to make some good plays, we’re going to make some mistakes. We didn’t make that many. So when we did, in those moments, they made good plays and took advantage.
On his emotions in coming out of tonight with the Game 1 victory
I would say just a good start. You know, we didn’t like exactly how it ended. We had a chance, more than one chance, to put the puck into the empty net and end the game in a less dramatic fashion, which is really what we wanted, but it’s hockey. We talked about this in the lead-up to this game, it’s why we all love it. You don’t know exactly what’s going to happen when you come to a hockey game, when you turn on a TV and that’s why it’s so exciting. Guys are out there playing passionately and different things can happen. Tonight was one of those nights. From an entertainment perspective, you just had to hold you breath and see how it was going to finish.
On the impact of the crowd and the home-ice advantage to begin the series
Yeah, I don’t know what it is, we’ve talked about it many times, the vibes in the building, it’s a fun place to play, a great atmosphere, our fans, whatever it is, that combination of all those things has turned out pretty well for us here at home. I thought the building was electric, right from the start. We scored early, which I thought really helped, allowed everybody get into the game.
On seeing a player like Phillip Danault get rewarded with two goals tonight, including the game winner
Phil’s not known as a goalscorer, but what he’s done is turned his two-way game into a pretty consistent, I would say, a 20-goal scorer at this stage of his career. This year, he was snake bitten like no other, he had plenty of chances and I think he finished with eight. All of a sudden, two in the first game. That’s all that matters for him going forward. He sacrifices as that type of center, sometimes you sacrifice some offense. You love to see a guy get rewarded for it in a big game like tonight.
On the way his team backchecked throughout tonight’s game
We’ve pretty much done that all year. I think, if we talk to teams and you say, what’s one or two things that LA does particularly well, I think they would point that out. Our back pressure, our forwards getting coming back and just trying to, if you can strip the puck, that’s one thing, but if not, just be there to support me, give the D more confidence to stand up and keep the gap. I thought we did that really well. We had a really good effort up and down the lineup that way and it makes it easier for the D.
Notes –
• Forward Andrei Kuzmenko (1-2=3) scored his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal, and recorded his first two career playoff assists in his postseason debut. Kuzmenko joins Daryl Evans (2-2=4; April 7, 1982 at EDM) as the only two Kings skaters to record a three-point effort in their first career Stanley Cup Playoff game.
• Forward Quinton Byfield (1-1=2) scored his first goal and picked up his first assist of the playoffs, his eighth point (2-6=8) over his last eight Stanley Cup Playoff games. Tonight marked Byfield’s second career multi-point playoff effort, his first recorded at home (0-2=2; April 24, 2024 at EDM). Byfield becomes the sixth forward selected in the 2020 NHL Draft to record two or more multi-point playoff efforts.
• Forward Adrian Kempe (1-2=3) recorded his second career three-point game in the postseason (May 10, 2022 vs. EDM; 2-1=3) with his first and second helper along with his first goal of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Kempe now has tallies in back-to-back playoff games against the Oilers (1-0=1), dating back to Game 5 of last season’s Round One matchup. With his first period assist, Kempe recorded the 20th postseason point of his career (12-10=22), becoming just the fourth active Kings skater to hit the 20-point mark, joining Trevor Lewis (9-12-23), Drew Doughty (18-41=59) and Anze Kopitar (25-56=81). The multi-point effort marks the sixth such game of Kempe’s postseason career, tying Jimmy Carson and Bernie Nicholls for the 16th most in franchise history.
• Per NHL PR, Kempe is the only player in NHL history to record each of his first 21 career postseason points against the same franchise, with the next-closest player being Pierre Turgeon, who had his first 15 versus the Bruins.
• Forward Phillip Danault (2-0=2) scored his first two goals of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, marking his eighth and ninth career playoff tallies. Since his debut with the club in the 2021-22 campaign, Danault’s seven playoff goals rank second among King’s skaters in that time frame, trailing only Adrian Kempe (12G).
• Danault netted his second tally of the evening with just 42 seconds remaining. Per NHL PR, the tally marked the latest go-ahead goal in a playoff game for Los Angeles, besting the previous mark set by Trevor Lewis during Game 2 of 2013 Conference Semifinals (58:39). Danault has now recorded two career game-winning goals against the Oilers in the postseason, last doing so on May 2, 2022 (1-1=2).
• Defensemen Drew Doughty (0-1=1) and Mikey Anderson (0-1=1) each recorded their first assists of the playoffs. Doughty’s assist marked his 40th career postseason helper, tying him with Mattias Ekholm and Devon Toews for the 14th-most among active blueliners.
• Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov (0-1=1) registered his first assist of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, his second assist in as many consecutive postseason appearances against the Edmonton Oilers, dating to May 1, 2024.
• Forward Trevor Moore (0-1=1) netted his 10th postseason point (4-6=10) as a member of the Kings since joining his hometown club during the 2019-20 campaign.
• Forward Kevin Fiala (1-1=1) recorded the seventh multi-point game of his playoff career with his first assist and first goal of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. With his 24th and 25th career playoff points (12-13=25), Fiala leapfrogs New Jersey’s Timo Meier (9-15=24) for the third most playoff points scored among Swiss born skaters in NHL history.
• Captain Anze Kopitar (0-1=1) earned his first point of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs in tonight’s matchup with an assist on Kempe’s even-strength marker. The helper marks his 15th career postseason point against the Oilers (4-11=15).
• Forwards Andrei Kuzmenko, Samuel Helenius, Jeff Malott and Alex Turcotte, and defenseman Brandt Clarke each skated in their first career Stanley Cup Playoff games tonight. Clarke becomes the fourth defenseman selected in the 2021 NHL Draft to skate in a Stanley Cup Playoff game, while Helenius becomes the fourth skater selected in the second round of the 2021 Draft to appear in a Stanley Cup Playoff game.
• Goaltender Darcy Kuemper turned aside 20 of Edmonton’s 25 shots on goal to secure the 6-5 victory in Round One, Game 1.
The Kings are scheduled to practice tomorrow at 11 AM at Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo.
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