Maybe getting passed by the Edmonton Oilers was inevitable. Any time a division rival rips off 16 straight wins after a disappointing start, the term "team of destiny" starts coming into play. You can accept them blowing past you, especially if they were the Cup favourites going into the season.

And overall, to be coming out of the All-Star break looking up at a Vancouver Canucks team on the PDO bender of all time, the Cup favourite Oilers, and the defending Cup-winning Vegas Golden Knights, that maybe wouldn't be the worst failure, either. But for the Kings, who fired coach Todd McLellan in the middle of that All-Star break on Friday morning, the way they got there was the problem. They won just a handful of times over a 25-game stretch, and this was a team that, to some extent, pushed all