What’s Next for the LA Kings in this Series? | Royal Reaction

Zack Douly and Scott Burnside here. Game five, Royal reaction. Scott, there was a lot of optimism coming back home where the Kings have been so successful this season, but by their own admission, they just could not get anything going last night in game five. What went wrong in a in a really tough one at Crypto.com Arena? Right. Uh do we have an hour or two to probably not to tape this, but and I think you’re absolutely right, Zach. There was so much optimism coming back from Edmonton even though you’d lost two games in a row there. Best team in the NHL on home ice, best two of three with two possible games at home. Uh and yet the Kings started so poorly and seemed overwhelmed by the Edmonton Oilers in almost every facet of the game. In fact, Jim Hiller especially candid after the game said there was no area outside of Darcy Cumper’s otherworldly performance that that the Kings were good enough in. and overwhelmed in the first period. And even though the score was 3-1 and suggesting a much closer game, uh, this game was not close. That’s the most lopsided 3-1 game I’ve seen in a long time. And I think the question is, how do you respond to that? How do you respond to not really being ready and not executing really on any level as you go into a potential deciding game in game six in Edmonton on Thursday night? Lopsided in a lot of ways. The reason that it wasn’t, as you mentioned, was Darcy Kemper, right? That was a Vzna caliber performance from Darcy Keer. There were scoring chances. There were high danger chances. Kemper was nearly perfect. He did his job for sure. How, I guess, bittersweet is it that that Darcy Kemper was so good and that’s so good, but the Kings weren’t able to take advantage of their goalender, you know, being the best player on the ice. Yeah, I guess there’s two ways to look at it, right? Have you squandered two really good performances from Darcy Comp. has faced 93 shots, made 93 stops, faced 93 shots in two games, has been outstanding to me. That’s so important going into game six. He’s going to have to be that goalie again if you are going to force a game seven here in Los Angeles on Saturday night. Um but and I think the players understand that, you know, Joel Edmonson saying after the game last night, you know, we’ve got to be better for Darcy Cumper. He has done, you know, above and beyond. Can he do it again in a critical game? And can that team rally and give him the support that he needs and frankly he deserves? It’s important to rally, right? And the Kings, they can be disappointed, but they can’t be disappointed come game six tomorrow night. And for me, what makes this team confident is that in games three and four at Rogers Place, the Kings controlled long stretches of that game, right? the first two periods of game three and game four, I think everyone would agree the Kings were the better team before maybe a passive third period kind of let it slip away. Scott, for you going into game six, it’s do or die for this team. What are you hanging your hat on that this team can kind of rally behind and bring this thing back to LA 3-3? Right. I mean, things have really gone sideways, right? Since the third period of game four, they’ve been outshot two to1, 70 to 35, been outscored six to1. But what we know is that this team has for long stretches of this series, both home and away, been the better team. We have seen it down the stretch. We have seen what they are capable of. And I guess that’s the point, right? The game is in them. Can they bring it back out? I thought Jim Hiller made a good point after a disappointing game five. They took that away from the Los Angeles Kings. Now the Kings have to take it back from the Edmonton Oilers. That game is in them. We’ve seen it. We know they are capable of it. Can they find it in time to force a game seven? That’s the beauty of this playoff series. It’s been a great series. All kinds of es and flows. Now the ball is in the Kings court. Can they deliver the goods? Can they deliver the goods? Indeed. The Kings have lost three straight games, but as we all know, it takes four games to win a series. The Kings will have another opportunity tomorrow night to bring this thing back for a do or die game seven.

A pivotal game 5 turned sour when the Edmonton Oilers broke through late in the third period to take down the LA Kings and capture the series lead 3-2. LA Kings Insider Zach Dooley and Hall of Fame Journalist Scott Burnside have your Royal Reaction.

Find Us 👇
Instagram: http://instagram.com/lakings
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lakings
Facebook: http://facebook.com/lakings
Web: http://lakings.com

#LAKings #NHL #GoKingsGo

46 comments

  5. Best answer to what went wrong is poor game management. Most were saying that the Kings were the better team going into the series. Hiller has not managed this team correctly. We are dead in every 3rd period. Last game it was all 3 periods. Not to mention the bad challenge.

  12. If you guys don't catch the first flight out of YEG, nor the following day, it's going to be 82degrees out in EDM on Saturday. There's some okay-ish golf courses just outside the city limits.

    Having that extra day off to unwind in the hotel could really help the guys to process what an absolute clown their coach is.

  15. In 43 years of being a Kings fan, this is the biggest waste of talent we have ever managed to mismanage. How do you let young talent learn how to play playoff hockey if you play some of them less than 5 minutes a game and sometimes NOT AT ALL! We finally find a groove after the deadline and the coaches change things in the playoffs?!?!? I wanted to believe Hiller was different, but he's Todd 2.0 in the playoffs. ROLL 4 LINES & 6 D the rest of the way and give the 4th line MORE TIME so vets can rest! They'll be fine. I feel bad for Darcy, playing out of his jock and not getting support. GET IT TOGETHER GUYS!!!! NO MORE GIMMIES!

  20. You can’t go wrong..putting in the effort and getting the win. Home for Game 7 and it’s just one game to settle things.

    Back in the day..Kings down 0-3 and clawed their way back. You can let Oilers feast on having done that..Let’s go, guys! 🥅🏒🗾

  26. If the Kings can win game 6 , they’d literally have the same chance as every other team left to win th3 cup , however game 6 would be 10x more difficult to win then game 7 , the oilers do not want to go back to la

  29. I have heard this 3 years in a row, Calgary was a better team, Edmonton beat them up, Calgary imploded after end of season, now they are rebuilding, Vancouver was a better team last year, Edmonton beat them, Vancouver imploded after the end of the season…. Both didn’t make the playoffs after Edmonton dismantled them.. This year, Same for LA 🙂

  30. It's Oilers game to lose, The King were not the better team all season. They were only in this series because of their hot special teams. If it weren't for their powerplay this would be a 4 game sweep for Edmonton. Fiala can dive until the cows come home but I'm sure the reffs by now are wise to his antics

  34. I don’t even understand, how in blue hell are you not prepared mentally and physically to play a game. Especially against this team. Edmonton owns La until the kings change it….
    Doughty was atrocious losing every one on one battle. As a team they look tired and frustrated, minus Darcy kuemper who has played wonderfully. I live in fl and I’m flying into LA tomorrow for family stuff and game 7. I totally hope this team plays well enough to win tonight but honestly I can’t hold my breathe…..
    GO KINGS GO.
    DOMINATE LIKE YOU CAN

  35. Oilers fan since the 70’s and also a fan of the Kings since I hated the Miracle on Manchester. Always loved Dionne. Cheered for you when you won your cups.

  36. This series is over they will lose to Edmonton once again. They lost the series at the end of the second period and the entire third period of game four. For some unknown reason at the end of the second period while leading they decided to quit playing and try to play defense and they lost. What happened in game five? they were out shot 46 to 22. They quit playing their game and decided to play defense and have been beaten since. Piss, poor coaching. The guy needs to be fired. Why he was kept. I have no idea. He was just an extension of Todd McClellan. Complete waste of talent. Complete waste of a season Because of poor coaching. Prevent defense only prevent you from winning and the kings are proving that. A good season with a disappointing ending because of bad coaching.

  38. No one ever states the obvious IMO. We need a leader in times like this. #11. Where are you?!!! You’ve never been what you’re supposed to be. Don’t you realize that your team would run through a wall if they EVER saw you run through anyone.

  39. If you can’t beat them at home you better give everything empty the tank. Oilers are rolling now it’s gonna take a lot to win in edm.

  40. What’s next? Golfing and a low 1st round pick. They’re in the black hole for years to come with the DD and Kopi contracts. Kempe won’t extend, Kuz probably won’t sign, and the team is generally screwed from Blake’s mismanagement.

  41. To win in the playoffs you need a legit head coach and Hiller is not even close and is being outcoached period!!! He is the direct reason Kings blew games 3 and 4 and did not show up for game 5! I seriously said Hiller should be FIRED before game 5 to save the Kings from a total Collapse and lets not forget Hillers brainless challenge and specially his Arrogant Embarrassing answers on the pregame media after game 4 which confirmed Hillers Ignorance!!!!!! The only good from another disappointing season is Blake and Hiller will be gone and if not I will not renew my season tickets!!!! It will take a Miracle for the Kings to win this series and that's to FIRE HILLER before game 6!!!!

  46. What's next? Book some tee times. Rinse and repeat with current management. Zero accountability after several years of "building." I quite.

Leave a Reply