The Edmonton Oilers were oh-so-close to making an incredible comeback in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night. After Connor McDavid put the team on his back in the third period to erase a four-goal deficit, the Kings scored with just 42 seconds left in regulation to seal a wild 6-5 victory.

Stuart Skinner made just 24 saves on 30 shots in the loss, and he heard about it in a big way on social media afterwards.

Obviously, a tough night for the 26-year-old.

“Now, every single shift, every play matters,” Oilers forward Adam Henrique said afterwards, per NHL.com's Dan Greenspan. “Even when you’re down and something happens, you know it all matters because you push right to the end, and we showed that coming back and sticking with it and tying it up late. We gave ourselves a chance.”

It didn't look like Edmonton had a chance at all early on, falling down 4-0 before the end of the second period. Leon Draisaitl finally got one past Darcy Kuemper late in the frame, and things really broke open in the third period.

After cutting the Kings' lead to 4-2 early in the stanza, the Oilers allowed a Kevin Fiala power-play goal that restored LA's three-goal lead. But it was all McDavid after that. He set up a Corey Perry goal with 13 minutes left to keep things close at 5-3.

And with just over two minutes remaining, McDavid made a slick pass to Zach Hyman, who beat Kuemper to get the Oilers within one. Of course, it was the world's best player who tied things up on a nice individual rush with a minute and a half left in regulation.

But the comeback would be for naught after Phillip Danault beat Skinner with 42 seconds left on a deflected shot that went up and over the Edmonton netminder.

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Oilers used to losing Game 1 vs. Kings

Despite the tough loss, there's no panic for Edmonton after the wacky defeat. The Oilers have lost Game 1 against the Kings twice in the last three Round 1 meetings between two Pacific Division rivals.

In 2023, the Oilers lost Game 1 in overtime before racking off four victories in five contests to win the series. And the year before, they dropped the first game 4-3 before emerging victorious in Game 7.

Although McDavid and Co. would have liked to complete the comeback, they'll still have a chance to win back home-ice advantage on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.

“From our group in here, the pushback was fantastic and expected,” Henrique said, per Greenspan. “It’s tough, obviously, giving up the one right after tying it up.”

Jeff Skinner played his first Stanley Cup Playoff game and recorded an assist in just more than 11 minutes of ice time. The 32-year-old forward had played 1,078 regular-season tilts before finally getting a taste of postseason action.

Besides McDavid, the Oilers are going to have to be a lot better to win this series, especially on the power play. Los Angeles scored two goals on five chances, while Edmonton went 0-for-2 with the man advantage.

Puck drops on Game 2 just past 10:00 p.m. ET from Southern California.