LOS ANGELES -- You don't have to know anything about hockey to know the Los Angeles Kings are in trouble heading back to Edmonton for Game 5 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series with the Oilers.

Just knowing how to count is knowledge enough.

After Sunday's 1-0 loss at Crypto.com Arena, the Kings trail the best-of-seven series 3-1. That makes Wednesday's game a must-win for the Kings. So is anything that comes after that.

"Yeah, our backs are against the wall," center Phillip Danault said. "Nothing to lose. One game at a time. Pressure's on them. Give everything you've got."

A pained grin creased his face.

"All the cliches," he said.

It doesn't seem right that, after a regular season that started and finished in record-setting fashion, the Kings find themselves just a loss away from bowing out of the playoffs with a whimper, not a bang.

The Kings won their first 11 road games of the season under coach Todd McLellan, breaking the NHL record. Then, after McLellan was fired and assistant Jim Hiller was promoted to take his place in February, the team won eight in a row at home at the end of the season, matching the team's longest home winning streak in 32 years.

Yet now, after back-to-back home losses, the Kings are a road loss away from a long offseason.

It wasn't supposed to end this way, of course. Two years ago, in the first round of the playoffs, the Oilers eliminated the Kings in seven games. Last year, they did it in six. Now it could happen in five.

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