It is the third consecutive season the Oilers have eliminated the Kings in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“I mean, it doesn’t matter, you’re out of the playoffs regardless of who beats you, but definitely not a great feeling getting the worst of it three years in a row,” Kings captain Anze Kopitar said. “And it just [stinks] right now.
“We’ve just got to play better, really. Special teams hurt us a lot, obviously, this series. There were parts of the games where we were good, we were dictating the game, but you’ve got to do it, obviously, more often and every game, too, in order to win the series.”
Zach Hyman and Evander Kane scored, and Evan Bouchard had three assists for the Oilers. Stuart Skinner made 18 saves, and Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had two assists.
“He was outstanding for us,” Nugent-Hopkins said of Skinner. “Early in the series, we could have done a better job for him, too. It always goes both ways. … And tonight, when he had to, he made the big save. We have full confidence in him.”
Adrian Kempe, Blake Lizotte and Alex Laferriere scored, and Matt Roy had two assists for the Kings, who were the No. 3 seed from the Pacific. David Rittich made 22 saves.
“It’s a pretty simple write up on this one, I think,” Los Angeles interim coach Jim Hiller said. “You saw one team execute and one team not on special teams.”