The Los Angeles Kings drew first blood in their Western Conference First Round series against the Edmonton Oilers, securing a dramatic 6-5 victory in Game 1 at Crypto.com Arena on April 21. However, the win was anything but straightforward, as the Kings were forced to hold on for dear life after squandering a commanding four-goal lead.Phillip Danault emerged as the hero for the Kings, netting the game-winner with just 42 seconds left on the clock. His seemingly innocent wrist shot from the high slot on a late rush somehow eluded Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner, sending the home crowd into a frenzy. I got all of it, Danault quipped post-game, perhaps downplaying the fortunate bounce.Danault's decisive goal came a mere 46 seconds after the Oilers' superstar Connor McDavid had completed a stunning comeback, tying the game 5-5 at 18:32 of the third period. With Skinner pulled for an extra attacker, McDavid showcased his brilliance, skating in on a rush and firing a shot off the left post and past Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper from the right circle.The Kings had looked firmly in control for much of the game, jumping out to a 4-0 lead by the late stages of the second period. Andrei Kuzmenko opened the scoring on the power play, followed by Quinton Byfield banking in a clever goal off Skinner. Adrian Kempe extended the lead with a backhand tally, and Danault's first of the night came courtesy of a costly turnover by Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard.However, the Oilers, known for their potent offense, began their relentless pushback late in the second. Leon Draisaitl finally got Edmonton on the board with a powerful one-timer, and Mattias Janmark narrowed the gap early in the third.The Kings briefly stemmed the tide with a Kevin Fiala power-play goal, making it 5-2. But the Oilers refused to quit. Corey Perry jammed in a close-range shot, and Zach Hyman followed suit with another net-front scramble goal, pulling Edmonton within one with just over two minutes remaining.Then came McDavid's electrifying equalizer, seemingly capping off an improbable comeback. But Danault's late heroics snatched the victory back for the Kings, leaving both teams and the fans breathless. Big up and big down and up again, so that’s playoff (hockey) though, Danault acknowledged. It’s hard to play a game like this mentally, but like I said, we have to learn from this. It didn’t feel like a loss, but like, it hurt. It got us a little bit. So for us, we have to play even better next game, and we have to play 60 minutes”, he added.Kings captain Anze Kopitar echoed this sentiment, stating, I don’t think we took the foot off the gas. That’s a high offensive power team over there, and when you give them a sniff, they’ll take it. And they certainly did.”