The streets of Edmonton were awash in blue and orange, the colors of the city’s hockey team, on Friday.

From the Southgate Centre, on the city’s southern edge, to the downtown financial district, it seemed as if everyone, from students and shopkeepers to cabbies and the cable guy, were wearing Oiler sweaters. And with reason: Their team, a Stanley Cup finalist a season ago, was fighting for its playoff life against a Kings team it had dispatched with ease each of the last three playoffs.

The Kings won the first two games in the best-of-seven series so Edmonton desperately needed a victory at home to get back in the series. It got that in uncommon fashion, scoring four unanswered goals in the final seven minutes of a 7-4 win.

But the Oilers didn’t do it alone. The atmosphere, said winger Evander Kane, who scored the goal that started the final rally, played a big part.

“It was nice to get in front of our own fans,” he said. “You come back to Edmonton, there’s some buzz in the city. There’s some buzz in the morning. We kind of got re-energized a little bit.”

The Kings still lead the first-round series 2-1 heading into Game 4 on Sunday in Edmonton. Both teams will then return to Los Angeles for Game 5 on Tuesday. But a fifth game was looking unlikely until a bizarre sequence that began with 6:42 to play erased a 4-3 Kings lead and changed the complexion of the series.

Read more:Kings rally to take lead, only to collapse in third period of Game 3 loss to Oilers

It started with Kane scoring on a scramble in front of the Kings’ net to tie the score, although the goal took some time to sort out since it appeared Kane, playing for just the second time this season, kicked the puck under Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper.

After a lengthy video review determined Kane used his stick to score, the Kings called a timeout and rather than playing it safe, they challenged the goal, claiming Kane had interfered with Kuemper. When they lost that challenge, Edmonton was awarded a two-minute power play and needed only 10 seconds of it with Evan Bouchard scoring what proved to be the game-winner on a tipin from the crease.

The Oilers, blanked on the power play in the first two games, had two goals, both by Bouchard, with the man advantage Friday. The Kings also had two power-play goals and are now seven for 12 in the series with the man advantage while the teams have combined for 30 goals overall in the three games.

So much for the conservative nature of playoff hockey. And this series might have turned on Jim Hiller’s challenge, which was the furthest thing from playing it safe.

“We take a timeout. We understand the situation. We don’t want to give them a power play but clearly we felt that, we felt that, that challenge was in our favor. The league disagreed,” the Kings' coach said. “The next step would have been for us to kill a penalty and that didn’t happen either. It’s a tough stretch for us, there’s no question. That’s hockey. That’s playoff hockey, especially.”

Connor McDavid and Connor Brown each scored into an empty net in the final 1:40 to account for the final score. It was the second time in three games that Edmonton scored four times in the final period to erase a deficit, although the Kings came back to win the first time.

“I'm pretty happy that we're playing the game well enough that we're leading them in the third period,” Hiller said. “So I'll take that. That's the way I look at that.”

Another way to look at that is the Kings have collapsed twice, failing to close out games they led handily. Friday they erased a two-goal deficit and twice broke ties to take the lead twice, only to give it all back.

“Yeah, it sucks,” defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “But we're still in a good place. You get to come back in two nights and get another stab at it, which is the best part.”

Be careful what you wish for because the next stab at it will also be on the Oilers’ ice, in one of the loudest buildings in the NHL.

Hockey in Edmonton is special, more a religion than a game. And any night the Oilers play in the postseason is church night.

Rogers Place was again a raucous cacophony of noise Friday while outside thousands of people who couldn’t get a seat in the temple — some carrying signs that read “We Believe” — began lining up more than three hours before gametime for a spot in the “Moss Pit,” an open-air fan zone named after Joey Moss, a longtime club employee.

Their prayers were answered with a comeback that appeared to benefit from a little divine intervention. It’s more likely the Oilers simply fed off the size and fervor of the crowd, which inspired the home team while intimidating the visitors.

“The crowd was emotional,” Hiller said. “The crowd was great. The energy, we expected. I would have wished that we did a better job of just weathering that.”

Anderson agreed.

“We knew they were going to come out hard. It's their home rink,” he said.

The Oilers finished strong as well, climbing back into a series that appeared all but over until the final seven minutes Friday.

Afterward Edmonton’s ICE District, a town square centered around the hockey arena, continued buzzing until well after midnight. A pickup truck with a faux oil derrick flanked by two large Oilers flags, drove laps around the area while fans in the de rigueur orange and blue team sweaters milled about, too excited to leave but too exhausted to do much more than blow on horns and block the sidewalks.

“What a game,” one young man repeated aloud to no one in particular.

The Oilers will play again on Sunday, the traditional Christian Sabbath, and the faithful will once again file into Rogers Place to offer hosannas at decibel levels loud enough to make your ears bleed. If their prayers are answered, the series will return to L.A. even at two games apiece.

If not, Friday’s game might prove to be a false miracle, unworthy of either praise or condemnation.

“It feels good right now to get that win,” said Leon Draisaitl, who had two assists, including the pass that set up Bouchard’s game-winner. “But it’s not going to do much if we don’t follow it up, right? We’ve got to follow it and take this back to L.A. 2-2.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Edmonton Oilers played like they couldn’t afford to lose Friday. And they didn’t, scoring two goals 10 seconds apart late in the third period to beat the Kings 7-4 in a wild first-round playoff game that saw both teams overcome deficits.

The Kings still lead the best-of-seven series 2-1 heading into Game 4 on Sunday in Edmonton. But the Oilers’ win means the series will return to Los Angeles for Game 5 on Tuesday.

Evan Bouchard and Connor Brown each had two goals for Edmonton, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid and Evander Kane also scored.

Read more:Why Andrei Kuzmenko has become a 'difference-maker' for the Kings vs. the Oilers

McDavid’s goal and Brown’s second goal were empty-netters after Bouchard scored on a power play to put Edmonton ahead with 6:32 remaining. Edmonton scored four unanswered goals in the final seven minutes.

The Kings’ goals came from Adrian Kempe, Kevin Fiala, Drew Doughty and Trevor Moore, with two of those scores coming on the power play.

But the game turned on a decision by Kings coach Jim Hiller to challenge Kane’s tying goal in the third. The unsuccessful challenge gave the Oilers a power play, leading to Bouchard scoring what proved to be the winning goal.

“We understand the situation,” Hiller said. “But clearly we felt that that challenge was in our favor. The next step would have been for us to kill a penalty. That didn't happen either.

“So it's a tough stretch for us, no question. That's hockey. That's playoff hockey.”

The Oilers, desperate to get back in the series, benched goalie Stuart Skinner, who allowed 11 goals in the first two games, in favor of Calvin Pickard. But Pickard fared little better, giving up four goals on 28 shots.

Still, Edmonton played with urgency, taking its first lead of the series less than three minutes in when an unguarded Nugent-Hopkins took a Zach Hyman pass directly in front of the net and pushed the puck under Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper.

Bouchard doubled the lead six minutes later, firing a slap shot past Kuemper from the top of the circles three seconds after the Kings’ Andrei Kuzmenko went off for interference. It was Edmonton’s first power-play goal in six tries in the series.

The Kings responded with three unanswered goals.

Kempe started the rally late in the first period, deflecting a left-handed shot off Pickard from the center of the right circle with the teams skating four on four. It was his fourth goal of the playoffs, matching Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy for the NHL lead.

More importantly, it took momentum away from the Oilers, allowing Fiala to even things early in the second period with a power-play goal from nearly the same spot from where Kempe scored. Doughty’s power-play goal less than five minutes before the second intermission then put the Kings in front for the first time.

The Kings were 0 for 12 with the man advantage in last season’s series loss to Edmonton, their third consecutive playoff series loss to the Oilers. This year, against the same team, the Kings have converted seven of 12 power-play opportunities.

After Brown pulled Edmonton even again, Moore scored nine seconds later when he drove to the net and poked the puck past Pickard.

Things got really wild in the third period, with the Oilers scoring four goals in less than seven minutes. Edmonton also scored four goals in the third period of Game 1.

Read more:How Koreatown seniors have become Kings' playoff good luck charm with harmonica national anthem

Kane tied the score again, scoring off a mad scramble in front of the net, then waiting several long minutes for a replay review to confirm he pushed the puck in with his stick, not his skate.

Hiller challenged the goal, arguing there was goaltender interference.

“We got a good look at it. We had plenty of time,” he said. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. It cost us big time.”

Bouchard needed just 10 seconds to make the Kings pay, scoring Edmonton’s second power-play goal on a tip-in from Kuemper’s left. Kuemper made 29 saves.

“It sucks,” Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “But again, I look at it, we're still in a good place. You get to come back in two nights and get another stab at it, which is the best part.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Kings and Edmonton Oilers are old postseason foes, with this year’s first-round matchup marking their 11^th meeting in the Stanley Cup playoffs. But with Wednesday’s 6-2 win in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series, the Kings have done something they’ve never accomplished previously.

They’ve taken a 2-0 lead.

The Kings, who have yet to trail in the series, got two goals from Adrian Kempe and single scores from Brandt Clarke, Quinton Byfield, Andrei Kuzmenko and Anze Kopitar, with Clarke, Kuzmenko and Kopitar all scoring on the power play.

Leon Draisaitl and former King Viktor Arvidsson got the goals for Edmonton, which has been outscored 12-7 in the two games.

The win was the Kings’ NHL-best 33rd at home in 2024-25, but now they’ll go on the road, where they had a losing record during the regular season. Edmonton will play host to Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday. Game 5, if necessary, will be played at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday.

After winning a Game 1 shootout in which the teams combined for 11 goals — seven in the final 20 minutes and six seconds — the Kings went in front to stay in Game 2 on Clarke’s first career playoff goal 8:44 into the first period. And they got some help from an unexpected source on that one.

Winger Evander Kane, who was making his season debut for the Oilers, was on the ice just 95 seconds before drawing a cross-checking penalty, giving the Kings the man advantage. And Clarke made the Oilers pay, deflecting in a pass from former Oiler Warren Foegele for the power-play goal.

Byfield then doubled the margin shortly after the first intermission before Kuzmenko made it 3-0 with another power-play goal midway through the second period.

The Kings have scored five times with the man advantage in the two games while holding Edmonton’s power play scoreless in five tries. In last year’s playoff loss to the Oilers, the Kings were 0 for 12 on the power play and killed just 11 of 20 Edmonton power plays.

Draisaitl got Edmonton on the board, scoring on a deflection at 13:54 of the second. It was the second goal of the series for Draisaitl, who led the league with 52 in an injury-shortened regular season.

Draisaitl’s second-period goal in Game 1 helped the Oilers rally from a 4-0 deficit, only to lose 6-5. His Game 2 goal started another rally that saw Arvidsson’s tip-in four minutes into the third period make it a one-goal game.

But the comeback stalled there with Kempe and Kopitar answering with goals less than three minutes apart to restore order. After Kopitar’s power-play goal the Oilers pulled goaltender Stuart Skinner and replaced him with Calvin Pickard, who gave up a goal to Kempe on the first shot he faced.

Kempe had two assists to go with his two goals while Kopitar had three assists.

The Kings and Oilers, who are meeting in the first round of the playoffs for a fourth straight season, split the opening two games each of the last three years before Edmonton went on to win the series. The last time a team won the first two games of an Oilers-Kings series was in 1990, when Edmonton won four straight.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Kings ran out to a four-goal lead then had to hold off a frantic Edmonton comeback to beat the Oilers 6-5 in a wild opener of a best-of-seven first-round playoff series at Crypto.com Arena on Monday night.

Phillip Danault scored the winner, his second goal of the game, with 41 seconds to play after the Kings led 4-0 late in the second period.

Andrei Kuzmenko, Quinton Byfield, Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala also scored for the Kings. Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Janmark, Corey Perry, Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid scored for Edmonton. Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 20 saves.

Read more:Kings have a fight coach. He's one of many specialists helping their playoff drive

The goals from Hyman and McDavid came after Edmonton pulled its goalie in the final three minutes. McDavid’s goal, which tied the game 5-5, came with 92 seconds to play. But Danault erased that less than a minute later.

The goals from Kuzmenko in the first period and from Fiala in the third came on power plays. The Oilers did not allow a power-play goal in 12 chances in last year’s playoff win over the Kings.

But it’s not so much how the Kings start as it is how they finish in their playoff series with Edmonton. The Kings won the opening game in two of their last three playoff meetings with the Oilers but went on to lose the series each time. However, all of those series started in Edmonton; this time the Kings drew first blood at home, where they won a franchise-record 31 times during the regular season.

Kuzmenko and Kempe had two assists while Byfield and Fiala had one each to go with their goals.

The Oilers, who took the Florida Panthers to a seventh game before falling in last year’s Stanley Cup Final, limped into the playoffs wounded but mounted a late comeback just the same. Draisaitl, who led the NHL with 52 goals, missed the final seven games of the regular season with a lower-body injury while McDavid, fourth in the league with 72 assists, missed nine of the final 14 games with a lower-body injury.

Together Draisaitl and McDavid combined for 206 points during the regular season but they hadn’t been on the ice together in more than a month until Monday, when McDavid assisted on the goals by Draisaitl, Perry and Hyman, then scored the tying goal.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Kings were playing for history Thursday and the Calgary Flames were playing for pride. Pride won, with Nazem Kadri scoring twice and and Sam Morton, Zayne Parekh and Mikael Backlund also scoring to give the Flames a 5-1 win in the final game of the NHL regular season.

Taylor Ward, making his NHL debut, got the only Kings goal late in the third period, long after the outcome had been decided. The goals by Morton and Parekh also came in their first NHL games.

The loss, the Kings' first in five games, left them with 48 wins and 105 points for the season, matching the team record in both categories.

Read more:Samuel Helenius has two goals as Kings defeat the Seattle Kraken

Still, the Kings will enter their first-round playoff series with the Edmonton Oilers on Monday as the hottest team in the Western Conference, having won eight of their last 10. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be played in Los Angeles on Wednesday before the series moves to Edmonton for Games 3 and 4.

The Flames, meanwhile, will miss the playoffs for the third season in a row after being eliminated earlier in the week in a shootout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. But they didn’t go quietly against the Kings, taking the lead to stay on Kadri’s first goal two minutes and 15 seconds into the second period.

Morton doubled the lead 6:05 into the third period, opening the floodgates with Kadri scoring his team-leading 35th goal less than a minute later, followed by goals from Parekh and Backlund three minutes apart.

Ward got his goal with just more than six minutes to play. It marked the first time in five games the Kings failed to score at least five goals.

The Kings rested leading scorer Adrian Kempe and regular goaltender Darcy Kuemper as well as center Phillip Danault and winger Trevor Moore, which allowed Ward to become the first son of an NHL player to play for the team. Ward’s father, Dixon, also a winger, appeared in 537 NHL games for six teams, including the Kings, between 1992-2003.

Thursday’s game was supposed to be played Jan. 8 but was postponed because of wildfires in Southern California. The Kings used the rescheduled date to honor first responders.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Kings moved two points closer to clinching home ice for the first round of the playoffs Thursday, riding two goals from Kevin Fiala and goals from Quinton Byfield, Anze Kopitar, Alex Laferriere and Jordan Spence to a 6-1 rout of the Ducks at Crypto.com Arena.

Andrei Kuzmenko and Adrian Kempe each had three assists.

Cutter Gauthier scored for the Ducks, his 20th of the season, early in the second period. But Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper didn’t give up another, extending his streak of games yielding two or fewer goals to 15, one short of the modern NHL record.

Read more:Kings fall to Kraken but stay four points ahead of Oilers

The win gave the second-place Kings a four-point lead over the third-place Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific Division with four games to play. The Kings and Oilers are almost certain to meet in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for a fourth consecutive season and home ice could be critical for the Kings, who have the NHL’s best home record (30-5-4).

The Oilers won the last three playoff series with the Kings but all three opened in Edmonton.

The Kings needed just 84 seconds to take the lead, with Byfield scoring from the slot on a power play. Gauthier matched that 1:46 into the second period, blasting a snap shot past Kuemper from the right faceoff circle. But Kopitar put the Kings in front to stay 31 seconds later, redirecting in a Mikey Anderson shot from the blue line for his 20th goal of the season.

That marked the 14th time Kopitar has scored 20 or more goals in a season.

Fiala doubled the lead on a power-play goal from the top of the right faceoff circle 2 ½ minutes later before Laferriere made it 4-1, batting down a loose puck at the top of the left circle, then fanning on a shot from the crease before backhanding a second shot.

Read more:Kings' top line is one of the NHL's best scoring trios. So why don't they have a nickname?

Fiala and Spence closed the scoring in third period, with Fiala netting his 32nd of the season on the power play and Spence getting his fourth. For Kuzmenko, the three assists gave him 10 points in the last six games while Kempe, whose wife, Sian, gave birth to the couple’s first child, a girl, earlier this week, has nine points over the same six-game span.

The Kings were without defenseman Drew Doughty for a second straight game. Doughty’s absence was related to the broken left ankle that caused him to miss the first 47 games of the season. He is listed as day to day

Despite the loss the Ducks, with 35 wins, have already matched their best regular-season total since 2018-19.

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Russia's Alex Ovechkin has become the National Hockey League's highest all-time scorer by hitting his 895th career goal to surpass the legendary Wayne Gretzky's 31-year mark.

Canadian Hall of Famer Gretzky broke the record previously held by his compatriot Gordie Howe in 1994.

Washington Capitals' Ovechkin scored the historic goal against the New York Islanders on Sunday, with Gretzky in attendance.

The game was paused for almost 20 minutes as players and spectators acknowledged the historic moment.

Ovechkin was joined by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and four-time Stanley Cup winner Gretzky, who said: "I can tell you first hand, I know how hard it is to get 894 - [so] 895 is pretty special.

"They say records are made to be broken but I'm not sure who's gonna get more goals than that."

Ovechkin celebrated with his team-mates, completed a lap of the arena and then shook hands with his Islanders opponents before being joined by his family.

"What a moment for hockey, what a moment for myself," Ovechkin said.

"Finally no-one's gonna ask me about 'when you're gonna do it'. It's over right now."

The achievement was celebrated in Moscow-born Ovechkin's homeland too, with the Russian Olympic Committee and Russian President Vladimir Putin's economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev among those posting on social media.

His feat is all the more remarkable given that his season was interrupted for a few weeks when he broke his leg in November.

Ovechkin tied with Gretzky on Friday, during the Capitals' 4-3 win over the Chicago Black Hawks.

Who is Alex Ovechkin?

Ovechkin has been a mainstay for Washington Capitals since his NHL debut in October 2005, helping them to their only Stanley Cup victory in 2017-18, and becoming one of the greats.

He has now passed the 40-goal mark in 14 of his 20 NHL seasons, despite missing a month of this campaign with a fractured fibula.

Known for his passionate celebrations and relaxed attitude towards the strict diets expected in the modern game, his face is plastered across the league's marketing material.

But it is the nation's capital where his star truly shines, and with the Capitals having already qualified for the post-season play-offs, he may soon be writing his name in the city's history books once again.

Who previously held the NHL goals record?

Ovechkin is passing an all-time great - indeed, Gretzky was given the rather straightforward nickname of 'The Great One' during his career.

The Canadian played 21 seasons in the NHL between 1979 and 1999 predominantly for the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings.

Gretzky has held the NHL goals record since he scored his 802nd on 23 March 1994, passing the total of post-war icon Howe, his compatriot and hero.

While he may have lost that record, Gretzky still holds the league record for the most overall points and assists.

Ovechkin may have edged closer, but 'The Great One' remains out on his own.

Who has scored the most goals in the NHL?

1 - Alex Ovechkin (Rus, 2005-) - 895

2 - Wayne Gretzky (Can, 1979-99) - 894

3 - Gordie Howe (Can, 1946-80) - 801

4 - Jaromir Jagr (Cze, 1990-2018) - 766

5 - Brett Hull (US, 1986-2006) - 741

What’s in a name? Sometimes a lot.

No one, after all, has ever given a nickname to a bunch of guys who hit .225 or a team that finished in the middle of the standings. But do something special and with flair and people start calling you Magic, The Hammer or The Great One.

Hockey was once at the forefront of this naming ritual, with the tradition of stamping memorable monikers on the sport’s most productive scoring lines dating to the 1920s and the New York Ranger threesome of Bun Cook, Frank Boucher and Bill Cook, collectively known as the “A Line” after the subway line that ran under Madison Square Garden.

The names could sometimes get creative, as with the Vancouver Canucks’ “Mattress Line,” which included two twins (Daniel and Henrik Sedin) and a king (center Jason King) and the Buffalo Sabres’ “French Connection” of French-Canadians Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin and Rene Robert. Or sometimes ridiculous, as with the “Trio Grande Line” of Clark Gilles, Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy, which took the New York Islanders to four straight Stanley Cup titles.

Read more:After 44 seasons, Nick Nickson's retirement will mark end of an era for Kings

Which brings us to the Kings’ current top line of left wing Andrei Kuzmenko, center Anze Kopitar and right wing Adrian Kempe. It has set no records and won no Stanley Cups; in fact, it hasn’t even clinched a playoff berth, although that will happen shortly.

But since coming together a month ago, when general manager Rob Blake acquired Kuzmenko from the Philadelphia Flyers at the trade deadline, the threesome has become one of the hottest trios in the NHL ahead of the Kings' showdown with the Edmonton Oilers at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

After getting six or more goals in a game four times in the first 60 games, the Kings did it four times in the next 13 with Kuzmenko. Scoring overall has risen nearly a goal a game and the team has lost just three times in its last 15 games, putting it on pace to open the Stanley Cup playoffs at home, where they have the best record in the Western Conference.

And that has sparked a question: what should the line be called?

“Hadn’t even thought about it,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said.

“It’s not really on the front burner,” added Glen Murray, the Kings director of player development “I haven’t really thought about it a lot.”

OK, so maybe it’s not a burning question. But there are some candidates just the same.

“AK,” Kopitar said. “That’s what I’m going for.”

That one is solid because it works on two levels, using each players’ initials but also highlighting the fact they all have a strong shot.

Patrick O’Neal, who hosts the “LA Kings Live” pregame and postgame shows on FanDuel West, likes Special K. Simple but elegant.

Then there’s the “AAA Line,” inspired by each player’s first initial and the fact that, like the auto club, the line is dependable and the Kings trust it will get them where they want to go.

The odds that any of those will catch on are long since the prevalence of assigning nicknames to top NHL lines has faded in recent years, robbing the game of some of its fun. With line pairings jumbled and players traded so frequently in modern hockey, it has become difficult for fans and the media to develop an association with particular combinations. At the same time, the rise of data and analytics has shifted the focus from the collective performance of a group of players, such as a line, to the performance of individuals.

Murray, who skated on the Boston Bruins’ imposing “700-pound Line,” a name inspired by the collective weight of the three players, said the absence of nicknames doesn’t necessarily represent progress.

“It’s too bad,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with coming up for a name for a line that’s just been put together.”

Hiller believes nicknames can be useful in developing an identity and esprit de corps for young players, who are typically lacking both. But it’s not really necessary on a line centered by someone such as Kopitar, who is fourth among active players in games played.

“For some young players, maybe,” he said. “I’ve seen it when three young players get together and they have energy and stuff like that. But I’m not sure there’s too much that’s going to get Kopi going in a different direction at this stage of his career.”

In any case, it wasn’t a nickname that turned the Kings’ line around but rather the addition of Kuzmenko on the left side.

“It took a few games to kind of understand how Kuzy plays. But they're dangerous,” Murray said. “This guy is Uber talented. He can make plays all over the ice and it's fun to watch. The enthusiasm that Kuzy has for the game, it just oozes out and it goes in Kempe and Kopi.”

Read more:Kevin Fiala and Trevor Moore help power Kings to their third straight win

Into Blake as well. Rumors ahead of the trade deadline linked the Kings to a number of high-profile targets including Pittsburgh’s Rickard Rakell. Chicago’s Ryan Donato and San José’s Luke Kunin. So when Blake settled on Kuzmenko, who scored 39 goals in his rookie season with Vancouver in 2022-23 then spent the next two seasons shuffling among four teams, the news underwhelmed.

Kuzmenko, however, has overdelivered, collecting four goals and six assists in 15 games. As a result, the trade has proven to be among the most consequential in the Western Conference, reinvigorating a team that saw a season-long five-game losing streak end in Kuzmenko’s debut.

“The way he celebrates his goals, it’s like the last one he’s ever going to score,” Murray said of Kuzmenko. “It gives you a little energy, right? They know they’re going to be a threat.”

The question now is what should they be called?

“The playoffs are coming up,” Murray said. “Having this new line, coming up with a unique name for it, I think it’ll just come one day.

“I love it. It makes it fun, too.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Don’t think of this as Nick Nickson’s final season behind the microphone for the Kings. Think of it as an encore.

Nickson planned to be golfing by now. He planned to be following his grandkids, Casey and Avery, to their games and attending the birthday parties and anniversaries he had to miss in more than five decades as a hockey broadcaster.

The Kings had other plans, summoning Nickson to a meeting in the summer of 2023 where he worried he might be fired before he could tell them he was ready to retire. Instead the Kings told Nickson, their longtime radio voice, they wanted him to simulcast the radio and TV calls. And they wanted a two-year commitment.

“Had it not been for the change, last year might have been my last,” he said.

The fact it wasn’t makes this season positively, absolutely the last one. (We think.) At 71, Nickson says he has too much he wants to do and not nearly enough time between games in which to do it, so his career will end when the Kings’ season does.

“I’m doing this on my own terms, which I’m grateful for,” he said during an hourlong lunch that was heavy on remembrances and void of regrets. “Some people around the league said ‘Nick why? You still sound so good.’ And yeah I appreciate that.

“But I want to be able to enjoy doing what I want while I’m still healthy. The timing is right.”

The Kings will honor Nickson when they play host to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, a tribute he believes will be heartfelt even though it’s April Fool’s Day.

“I thought of that when they mentioned April 1st, ” Nickson said. “But because so many people are preparing for it, I don’t think it’s going to be a joke. I think it will actually happen.”

In his 44 seasons with the Kings, Nickson says he has called more than 3,800 games while narrating the rise of hockey in a desert. He watched the Triple Crown line of Charlie Simmer, Marcel Dionne and Dave Taylor; welcomed Wayne Gretzky to L.A.; and saw Jim Fox, Daryl Evans and Jarret Stoll move from the ice into the broadcast booth.

Two other players, Luc Robitaille and Rob Blake, went from Nickson’s broadcasts into the Kings’ front office as president and general manager, respectively.

“For the culture of a franchise to have people that have been around a long time, it means a lot,” said Robitaille, now Nickson’s boss. “You have your core fans that follow the team and when they’ve been listening to Nick Nickson for all these years they’re part of the family. It’s hard to describe.

“Everybody grew up listening to them and then next thing you know, they get married and they have kids, and they’re still listening. I hear those stories over and over.”

That’s because Nickson described more than just hockey. He did the play-by-play of history, calling the Kings’ two Stanley Cup championships. His radio call of the final six seconds of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final is arguably the franchise’s most memorable moment.

“The long wait is over! After 45 years, the Kings can wear their crown!”

Nickson’s Hall of Fame career — he became the third Kings broadcaster, after Bob Miller and Jiggs McDonald, to be enshrined when he was voted in by his peers in 2015 — began with the minor league Rochester Americans a year after he graduated from Ithaca College, where he served as sports director for the school’s radio station. Two years later he began calling games for the New Haven Nighthawks, the New York Rangers’ AHL affiliate.

That’s where he got the break that changed his life. The Rangers, who had a player-development agreement with the Nighthawks, briefly ended the relationship in 1981 and the Kings, who were looking for an AHL partner, moved in. The Kings needed more than just a minor league affiliate, however.

Pete Weber had left his seat next to Miller, creating an opening in the broadcast booth. Kings coach Parker MacDonald knew Nickson from his time in New Haven, and though MacDonald wouldn’t last the season behind the bench, he was there long enough to push Nickson for the job.

Read more:Arellano: A Dodgers broadcasting legend reflects on life, superstar-laden team

“So we hired him,” Miller said.

With the move West, Nickson joined perhaps the most storied and iconic group of sports broadcasters ever assembled in one city. In addition to Miller, Vin Scully and Jaime Jarrín were calling Dodgers games, Chick Hearn was doing the Lakers, Tom Kelly was on USC football and Ralph Lawler soon moved north from San Diego with the Clippers.

All six are Hall of Famers. Yet Nickson, the youngest of the group at 27, fit in immediately.

“He was just great to be around,” Miller said. “Nick was always so well prepared. Great player identification. Kept up with the play, all the fundamentals.”

But the key to his success and that of the other Hall of Famers was stability, Nickson said. Scully and Jarrín both spent more than six decades with the Dodgers. Hearn and Lawler did 41 seasons with Lakers and Clippers, respectively. Nickson, meanwhile, is retiring after 44 seasons with the Kings, the same as Miller, who retired in 2017.

“It’s unusual that a broadcaster stays with one team for a number of years. The era of broadcasters sticking with one team for 40, 50 years is probably gone,” said Nickson, whose time with the Kings was measured in a series of short-term contracts that were always renewed. “You have that connection. It’s just a comfort level.”

“What we’ve had to offer and how we’re presented the game, I think it has educated [people] into being a more appreciative hockey fan,” he added. “That only is natural if you’re in that space for that long.”

As a result, giving up the job — and the game — after five decades won’t be easy. Just ask Miller, who was at a Kings game last weekend shortly after surgery for an aneurysm.

“You know, I still miss doing play-by-play,” he said. “There are certain games I’ll be watching on TV and my wife will say, ‘Do you miss that?’ I don’t miss preparation these days, with players changing teams and so many teams. But there are times I’d watch the game and say, ‘Yeah, I’d like to be doing the play-by-play.’”

Read more:Mikko Rantanen's hat trick leads Colorado past the Kings

As for Nickson, “well, he’s a golfer,” Miller said. “He’s got grandkids. So I don’t think he’ll have any problem getting used to it.”

Nickson has one confession he’d like to make before signing off the final time, though. That memorable call at the end of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs? He worked on that ahead of time.

The Kings were so dominant that spring, Nickson was confident they would win before the final series with the New Jersey Devils even started.

“That’s when I came up with what I eventually said,” he remembered.

But the genius wasn’t in the words, it was in the timing, with Nickson pronouncing the word “crown” as the final horn sounded.

He’s had nearly two seasons now to think about how he’ll end the final broadcast of his 44-year career, one that draws closer with every passing game.

“Maybe,” he finally offered, “I should that say ‘After 44 years the long wait is over.’”

Give that man his crown.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The biggest obstacle to a long playoff run for the Kings may be the airport.

Provided the Kings make the playoffs, of course, and right now things are looking pretty good. With a dominant 3-0 win Thursday over Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at Crypto.com Arena, the Kings jumped over Edmonton into second place in the Pacific Division and moved within six points of first-place Las Vegas.

The win was the team’s fourth in a row, its longest winning streak in more than two months. But it wasn’t just that the Kings won; it was how they won and where they won that mattered.

They controlled every phase of the game, outshooting and outhitting the physical Capitals. They scored a power-play goal while killing five penalties of their own. And they shut out the highest-scoring team in the league while stopping Ovechkin, the second-highest-scoring player in history, leaving him nine goals shy of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s once-unbreakable record of 894 career goals.

Read more:Kings shut out Capitals, hold Alex Ovechkin without a shot in pursuit of Gretzky mark

“That was as complete as it's been all year,” coach Jim Hiller said of his team’s effort. “We had a game plan. We adhered to it as well, for 60 minutes, as each player can.”

That’s how they won. Where they won is just as important.

The Kings have lost in regulation just three times in 29 games at home this season, the best record in the NHL. On the road, their 17 losses are the most among likely Western Conference playoff teams. So if the team begins the playoffs with a trip to LAX, its postseason run could be a short one.

Which wouldn’t be novel. The Kings have been eliminated in the playoffs in the first round in each of the last three seasons — and each time they opened the postseason on the road in Edmonton. In fact, the team has never won a playoff series under general manager Rob Blake, whose job may depend on the Kings winning one this spring.

But then they’ve never had home-ice advantage in a playoff series under Blake, either. Finishing first or second in the division would give them that this year and that would potentially flip the script since the Kings haven’t lost at home to any of the top 15 teams in the NHL this year.

On the road, they’ve beaten just one of those same 15 teams in the last two months.

“We feel, especially on home ice, that it doesn't matter who we're playing. If we play our game, we're going to come out in front,” said goalie Darcy Kuemper, who hasn’t lost in regulation at home since Nov. 7, matching a 34-year-old franchise record by earning a point in 11 consecutive games.

“Obviously we have our eye on trying to get home ice for playoffs,” said Kuemper, who posted his first shutout since New Year’s Day against a team that hadn’t been blanked since the seventh game of the season. “Every team in the race wants that and we know how important every point is going to be down the stretch.”

“We're strong at home this year, way better than last year,” added Kevin Fiala, who had a goal and an assist Thursday. “We feel comfortable we can beat anybody and we’re showing it.”

Thursday’s game definitely had a playoff feel to it and the Kings rose to the challenge, with Warren Foegele giving them the only goal they’d need when he banged in a loose puck from the edge of the crease with 6:52 left in the opening period. The goal, Foegele’s 19th of the season, gave him 200 points for his NHL career.

Fiala doubled the lead with his 22nd goal of the season on a power play 65 seconds into the third period, and while the goal was being announced over the PA system, Quinton Byfield made it 3-0 off an assist from Fiala.

It was the team's 15th goal in the four-game home winning streak; they scored just 16 times in the last eight road games.

Read more:Alex Ovechkin is set to break Wayne Gretzky’s goal record, but he's not 'The Great One'

“In the locker room, we always believed,” Fiala said. “Doesn’t matter the standings. Doesn’t matter who we beat. But tonight we beat the best team in the league.”

The game turned chippy as the minutes ticked away, with five players sharing the penalty boxes at one point. But the Kings didn’t back down. If they play like that in the playoffs, they’re going to win a lot of games.

“I do believe that our players know that if we are all together, we all do the same thing and play the game the way we believe that our team has to play it to have success, then we can beat anybody,” Hiller said.

Especially if they play at home.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.