Los Angeles Kings Came Back From 5-0 Down To Win Playoff Game

Published on November 1st, 2024 5:53 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


It was April 10th, 1982.

It was Game 3 of the Clarence Campbell Conference semi-finals, and the Edmonton Oilers were in Los Angeles to take on the Kings in their best-of-5 series.

The Edmonton Oilers were in the early stages of their dynasty. They hadn't won a Stanley Cup yet, but Wayne Gretzky and company were slowly taking over the NHL. The Oilers finished the 1981-82 regular season with 111 points, which was good for second-best in the league.

The Los Angeles Kings finished the regular season with a record of 24-41-15 for a total of 63 points. They were going to get destroyed by the Oilers.

Or so everyone thought.

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The Kings won Game 1 of the series by a ridiculous score of 10-8, unbelievably outscoring Wayne Gretzky and the high-powered Oilers attack.

The Oilers won a nail-biter in Game 2, winning by a score of 3-2 in overtime.

When the series shifted back to the Great Western Forum on April 10, 1982, located on Manchester Boulevard in Inglewood, California, the Oilers seemed to have seized the momentum.

This was extremely evident in the early stages of Game 3, as the Oilers jumped out to a 5-0 lead. It seemed as though the series was over.

The "Miracle on Manchester" started at 2:46 of the third period, as Jay Wells of the Kings scored to make it 5-1 for the Oilers.

Three minutes later, Doug Smith scored on the powerplay to make it 5-2.

The Oilers gritted their teeth and played more defensively, and the game was still 5-2 with about 5 1/2 minutes left in the third period.

Charlie Simmer scored with 5:22 left in the third period to make it 5-3.

Mark Hardy scored a little over a minute later to make it 5-4.

The Kings pulled their goaltender and mounted a furious attempt at a comeback, and with five seconds left in the game, the Kings equalized at 5 thanks to a goal from Steve Bozek.

Amazingly, the game was going to overtime.

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The Kings, with nothing to lose, came out in overtime like a buzzsaw, running over the Oilers and scoring just three minutes into the overtime frame.

The Oilers, one of the best teams in the NHL, had lost to the Los Angeles Kings.

The Oilers would end up winning Game 4, sending the series back to Edmonton for the fifth and decisive game.

The Oilers would blow it yet again, losing by a score of 7-4 in front of their shocked fans. The Kings had won, despite finishing almost 50 points behind the Oilers in the standings.

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The loss was an embarrassing one - one that Wayne Gretzky would not soon forget.

He'd take it out on the rest of the NHL, winning four titles over the next six years.