EDMONTON — While coaches meticulously plan defensive schemes, emphasize neutral zone positioning, and stress fundamentals like “responsible play” and “staying on the correct side of the puck,” sometimes games unfold differently.
When the puck dropped on a Thursday evening in May, the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers competed with the freewheeling abandon reminiscent of dozens of children playing on an outdoor rink during a Christmas holiday Saturday afternoon.
What transpired was sixty minutes of unstructured, rapid, and highly entertaining hockey, evoking memories of the classic `Miracle on Manchester` series from 1982, which began with a wild 10-8 victory for the Kings at Northlands Coliseum.
Forty-three years later, Edmonton emerged victorious in a high-scoring 6-4 series closer. They defeated the Kings in a manner mirroring their playoff exits against the Oilers in the preceding three years, once again concluding this series in six games.
