KEYPOINTS SUMMARY – NHL Playoff Semifinals 2025
- The LA Kings are out, losing to the Edmonton Oilers in a stunning Game 6 of NHL Playoff Semifinals 2025
- Oilers win four straight to take the series, advance to face Vegas Golden Knights
- In the East, Leafs vs Panthers and Capitals vs Hurricanes are confirmed
- Connor Brown stars with 3 points in the Oilers’ 6-4 win
- Connor McDavid finishes with 11 points in the series
- The Kings are out in Round 1 for the 4th straight year — all to Edmonton
- Only one semifinal matchup remains unconfirmed in the West
NHL Playoff Semifinals 2025: Oilers Shock Kings as East Brackets Lock In
Talk about playoff madness! – NHL Playoff Semifinals 2025
The NHL Playoff Semifinals 2025 are shaping up to be legendary, with the LA Kings crashing out in Round 1 and the Edmonton Oilers storming into the next round after a wild, gritty 6-4 victory that left fans breathless and the Kings broken — again.
The East is fully locked in, the West is still heating up, and hockey fans everywhere are screaming: Bring on the chaos!
LA Kings Crumble — Again — and the Oilers Take Advantage
Let’s not sugarcoat it. This one hurts for LA fans.
The Edmonton Oilers were down, doubted, and dismissed after Game 2 — but then they did what true contenders do: they punched back hard.
Winning four straight games, the Oilers ripped control of the series from the Kings and refused to let go. Game 6 was the dagger — a 6-4 war that started with fireworks and ended with Connor Brown burying an empty-net goal to seal it.
Brown, often overlooked, came through with a goal and two assists, his best game as an Oiler, according to captain Connor McDavid.
“Everyone stepped up,” McDavid said after the game. “Brown was fantastic. Pickard held strong. It wasn’t perfect, but we found a way — and that’s what great teams do.”
McDavid Magic: 11 Points in the Series
You knew this would happen. When the lights get brighter, McDavid gets better.
With 11 points in the series, McDavid was once again the engine, heartbeat, and emotional spark plug for Edmonton. His assist on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ early power-play goal made history — as Edmonton became the first team in NHL history to score two game-tying goals in the first six minutes of a playoff game.
He’s on a mission. And now the Oilers are just four wins away from the Western Conference Finals.
Nurse and Hyman Bring the Heat
This wasn’t just about the stars. Darnell Nurse and Zach Hyman showed up in a big way.
Nurse had a goal and an assist, including the long-range wrister that deflected off Hyman’s stick for the go-ahead 3-2 goal late in the first. Hyman added a pair of key hits and was a menace in front of the net all night.
“This group is resilient,” Nurse said postgame. “No matter how deep we’re pushed into the corner, we fight our way out. This series proved it.”
LA Kings Collapse — Four Straight Years, Same Exit Door
Let’s talk about the elephant in the rink.
The Los Angeles Kings have now been eliminated by the Oilers in the first round for four straight seasons. FOUR.
Despite an early goal just 1:19 into the game by Quinton Byfield, and a frantic last-minute push, LA just couldn’t hang.
Kings captain Anze Kopitar — who scored with under a minute left — was clearly gutted.
“This one’s hard,” Kopitar said. “With the season we had, with the group in here… to fall short again? It stings. A lot.”
The Kings haven’t won a playoff series since 2014, when they lifted the Stanley Cup. That feels like a different lifetime now.
Capitals, Hurricanes, Panthers, Maple Leafs — East Is Ready to Rumble
While the West figures out its final four, the Eastern Conference bracket is complete — and it’s stacked with drama.
- Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers: A rematch loaded with speed, firepower, and unfinished business.
- Washington Capitals vs Carolina Hurricanes: Grit meets grit. Experience vs hunger.
All four teams are coming off strong series wins and have momentum — but only two can survive.
Circle your calendars. These series will be nasty.
Oilers to Face the Golden Knights in Round 2
While one Western semifinal slot is still up for grabs, the other is official.
Edmonton vs. Vegas. McDavid vs. Eichel. Canada vs. Sin City.
The Vegas Golden Knights are defending champs for a reason — deep roster, elite goaltending, and pure swagger. But the Oilers? They’ve got revenge in their eyes and blood in the water.
This one might go seven games — and it will be absolutely electric.
The Game 6 Breakdown: Madness from Start to Finish
Game 6 had everything:
- Kings scored on their first shot, just 1:19 in.
- Edmonton tied it 3 minutes later, then fell behind again 33 seconds after that.
- Oilers tied it again less than 2 minutes later.
- By the 6-minute mark, it was already 2-2.
By the end of the first period, it was 3-2 Oilers, and the pace didn’t slow down.
The Kings pulled their goalie with a minute left, scored to make it 5-4, and nearly tied it — until Connor Brown sent one into the empty net with two seconds left, triggering an eruption on the Oilers bench.
The West Still Isn’t Finished
With Vegas vs Edmonton locked in, the final Western semifinal spot hinges on the ongoing battle between the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche.
That series is heading to Game 7 — and the winner will face either Minnesota or Winnipeg, depending on how that tiebreaker ends.
In other words? The West is still wide open. And totally unpredictable.
Playoff Leaders: Who’s Hot?
- Connor McDavid (Oilers) – 11 points
- David Pastrnak (Bruins) – 9 points
- Matthew Tkachuk (Panthers) – 8 points
- Alex Ovechkin (Capitals) – 7 points
- Sebastian Aho (Hurricanes) – 7 points
These are the names fueling the playoff chaos — and they’re only getting hotter.
NHL Playoff Semifinals 2025 Are Here — and Anything Can Happen
With the East set and the West heating up, the 2025 NHL Playoffs are turning into an all-out war for the Cup.
- The Kings are gone. Again.
- The Oilers are rolling.
- Vegas stands tall.
- The East is stacked.
And through it all, stars are being born, legacies are being tested, and fans are glued to their screens, waiting to see who survives next.
This is hockey at its most chaotic, its most physical, and its most emotional.
Welcome to the NHL Playoff Semifinals 2025 — buckle up. It’s going to get violent.
