What Went Wrong: Kings Fizzle in Playoff Rematch

The answer to "What Went Wrong?" when it comes to the Los Angeles Kings is simple. They had the Edmonton Oilers dead to rights...and then...they didn't.

Last year, they had nothing to be ashamed of. The Kings, in my view, had a "happy to be there vibe," and were also without Drew Doughty for the whole series, yet they still took the Edmonton Oilers to seven games. Because of this, when the rematch was set in stone, I figured that the Kings were ready this time, and they'd take it to an Oilers team that was riddled with questions, flaws, and screwups. It definitely looked like we'd see the Kings prevail. Game One saw the Oilers blow a 3-1 lead in the third period (what else is new?) and lose in OT. Now, the Kings lost Game Two, but the Kings won Game Three in OT and prevailed over Connor McDavid ordering the refs to look at something that didn't exist, because we all know the refs basically work for the Oilers (last year's Western Conference Final--which Edmonton still lost--was proof).

Game Four saw the Kings up 3-0 after the first period, and I literally went, "That's it! They're done!" Then Bouchard scored...and Draisaitl put in two. Kings regained the lead, but Evander Kane tied it, and Zach Hyman won it in OT. That, right there, was when the life was sucked out of them. LA's mojo was gone--they were completely dominated in Game Five, and Game Six saw them stay in it for a while, but a late goal by Kailer Yamamoto ended it.

The way I see it, there's only one person to blame for this:

This is the guy you traded Jonathan Quick for, Kings? Seriously? Quick was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Joonas Korpisalo (Quick was quickly dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights), and while Korpisalo's numbers as a King during the regular season were decent, his playoff performance was just awful. To me, Korpisalo was the only Kings player who didn't show up to the dance. His numbers: 2-4, 3.77 GAA, and a SV% of .892! That's absolutely unacceptable. I was literally screaming for the Kings to start Pheonix Copley, yet the only action he received in this series was in relief in Game Five.

The skaters did their thing. Adrian Kempe led with 8 points, with five of them being goals. Anze Kopitar turned back the clock with 7 points (2 G/5 A), while Viktor Arvidsson had 7 points of his own (G/6 A). Kevin Fiala had 6 points, with three of them coming in Game Six. The OT winners were scored by Alex Iafallo (Game One) and Trevor Moore (Game Three), with Iafallo ending up with three goals, while Moore's goal was his only one. Drew Doughty had three points (all assists), and Phillip Danault had 5 points, two of them goals, including his shortie in Game Six, which ended up being LA's last goal of the season. Like I said, the skaters showed up. The one problem was in net.

Honestly, if I'm the Kings, I do one of two things with Korpisalo next season: either demote him or trade him. Korpisalo is not a playoff goaltender, he proved that with his play this year. Regarding elsewhere, I don't really think the Kings need another piece, though they may need to start preparing for that moment when Kopitar may want to call it a career. Next season, Kopitar will get his last $10 million payday in his deal, and he'll be a UFA after that. He'll be 36 at that time, so they might give him one more deal so he can retire as a King years later, or he may decided to hang up the skates--after all, he has nothing else to prove. Doughty's a different story, he's only halfway through his current deal, so he'll be there for a little while longer. The Kings are good enough to make some noise in the playoffs if given the chance, but they need to fix that net issue. They lost to an Oilers team who has all sorts of problems in net, and that's not good.

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