LOS ANGELES -- In one of the most exciting games of the Stanley Cup playoffs so far, the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 6-5, thanks to a late Phil Danault goal, which halted a Connor McDavid-fueled comeback from the Oilers.
McDavid's heroics in this series are nothing new, and even a high-scoring game from these two has become a normal occurrence, but a big change early in this series came from LA's willingness to roll three forward lines evenly against the Oilers.
In the past, the Kings have desperately chased their matchups, ensuring that one of Anze Kopitar or Phil Danault is always out there against one of McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, but Kings coach Jim Hiller showed a lot of trust in Quinton Byfield in Game One.
Byfield played roughly nine minutes against the two Oilers stars at five-on-five, a similar number to Danault and Kopitar's split, giving the Kings' two veteran centers a much-needed rest against two of the league's biggest stars.
"Yes, I think we're both pretty tired of chasing him around the rink," said Kopitar when asked if he and Danault enjoyed getting the defensive support from Byfield. "I think just throughout the season, we've shown we have three really competitive lines that can handle any matchups. Q did a great job, and the whole line, not just Q, so it's definitely encouraging going forward."
McDavid is going to get his points and finish Game One with four, but that confidence to just roll any of his three lines against Edmonton's stars is massive. It means Danault and Kopitar shouldn't burn as this series goes on, like we've seen the last few seasons, and gives Edmonton another line to worry about offensively.
While a lot of the focus will go to the trust Hiller is putting in Byfield, the trust he's putting into Kevin Fiala is maybe more impressive. Just a few months ago, Hiller was talking about designing lines to keep Fiala away from the opposition's best players, and now he's trusted to play against two of the league's best players.
It's a testament to the improvements we've seen in Fiala's game and the confidence Hiller now has in his overall game.
The Kings narrowly avoided a spectacular collapse on Monday and can't let the same mistakes creep into their game on Wednesday, but that confidence in three lines should stay.
It gave the Kings a completely different look and was key to them dominating the first 40 minutes of that game.
Finding a true answer for McDavid and Draisaitl is almost impossible, but coming at them in waves and sharing that duty is a good way to match them, especially if your special teams are on.
Byfield and Fiala were always going to be the X-factors for LA in this series, and being trusted to play significant five-on-five minutes against McDavid and Draisaitl is a huge step in the right direction for them.
