LA Kings vs Edmonton Oilers Game 5 Preview: Key Points, Lineup Notes, and More

It's a best of three now. Game five tonight from DTLA as the Los Angeles Kings look to reclaim the series lead over the Edmonton Oilers.

Look Back at Game Four:

It started off great, but ended so poorly for LA in game four. After jumping out to a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes of play, the Kings reverted back to their sit-back style of play, leading to Edmonton eventually tying it with under 30 seconds to go. Then, towards the end of the first overtime frame, Vladislav Gavrikov was assessed a tripping penalty, with Leon Draisaitl eventually winning it in OT.

The Moore-Danault-Foegele line was great for LA, scoring twice. Kevin Fiala added the third goal for LA. Leon Draisaitl had four points, with McDavid and Bouchard each having two.

Darcy Kuemper stopped 44 of 48 for LA, while Calvin Pickard stopped 38 of 41.

Key Points for Game Five Against the Edmonton Oilers:

1. Doubt in the Depth

Entering the playoffs, the Kings 4th line and young defensemen were receiving endless praise from Jim Hiller and fans, yet come playoff time, there appears to be no trust in them, and it proved costly to LA in game four.

Through four games, we have only seen Alex Turcotte dress once. Samuel Helenius has averaged just 2:58 of time on ice. Jeff Malott is at 4:10. Seeing this, the first guess would be inexperience. All three players entered the postseason without an NHL playoff game under their belts, with Helenius and Malott combining for under 65 career games. But, despite this sounding like the simple answer, it is far from the truth. Trevor Lewis appeared in both games three and four and only averaged 4:10 of TOI. On the backend, it is the same with Jacob Moverare and Jordan Spence. These decisions brought questions for the fans and media, and it finally bit the Kings in game four.

The Kings gassed out in OT, eventually taking a late penalty (off a horrible call), and watched Leon Draisaitl bury the game winner. LA was outshot 17-7 in the extra frame and struggled to generate any dangerous chances. This all ties back to the icetime distrubition. You cannot run nine forwards and four defensemen and expect the team to play an extra period. It is just not possible. When looking at the Edmonton side, every skater but two played over ten minutes, while only one defenseman eclipsed over 30 minutes.

This all has to change. With LA back on home ice and in control of lineup matches, Jim Hiller must get back to rolling all 18 skaters he chooses to dress.

2. Penalty Kill Problems

The Oilers powerplay appears to have caught fire, and the Kings need to find a solution, and fast.

After going perfect on the kill in games one and two, the Kings PK has faltered, allowing four goals on five powerplays against. Now, let's be clear, it is foolish to think the Kings would be perfect against that PP unit, but the main concern now is the lack of timely kills. In both games three and four, the Oilers scored the game winner on the PP. In game three specifically, the Oilers went 2/2 on the PP, taking a combined 13 seconds to score their two goals. We know the implications of the special teams battle in this series, and after it being all Kings to start the series, it has flipped heavily into Edmonton's favor.

It does not need to be perfect, but it needs to be better.

3. Uh Oh AK

After dominating the first two games, the Anze Kopitar, Adrian Kempe, and Andrei Kuzmenko line struggled heavily in Edmonton. The trio was killed in their own zone in game one and, outside of an Adrian Kempe goal in that game, collected no points in the two games. A major factor of this is the matchups. The Oilers want McDavid and Draisaitl to matchup with Kopitar and Byfield's line, hiding them from Danault's line. This clearly has hurt the Kings. They need those two lines, and specifically the AK line, to lead the charge offensively like we saw to start the series.

With LA in control of the matchups on home ice, the AK line has to be better.

Lineup Notes:

LA swapped out Jacob Moverare for Jordan Spence for game four, marking their fourth straight playoff game with a different lineup. We should find out more closer to puck drop regarding any other possible changes for tonight.

Edmonton ran the same lineup for the second straight game, with changes unlikely again tonight.

How to Tune In:

Tonight's puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. PST and 10:00 p.m. EST and is available to watch on FanDuel Sports Network West and TBS. On the FanDuel side, a pre-game show begins 30 minutes prior. An audio-only feed is available on the ESPN LA app. Go Kings Go!