Three things we learned from the Kings’ 6-4 win over the Edmonton Oilers

The Kings will go home after their final regular-season game Sunday rather than to the playoffs. It’s just the second time since 2009 that the team missed the postseason and had its year end when the regular-season schedule did.

So it’s all about learning now. And here are three things we learned in Tuesday’s 6-4 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

The kid is all right

Tuesday’s game was arguably the first of the 2017-18 season so Coach Darryl Sutter decided to give fans a sneak peak at the team’s future. And the future looks bright, with rookie Jonny Brodzinski picking up his first two NHL assists with a pair of second-period helpers.

Brodzinski’s first assist came on a hard shot that appeared to go in on its own. But replays showed Nick Shore — who had a goal and three assists Tuesday — got a stick on the puck as it went past.

“I actually wasn’t sure if Nick tipped it or not,” Brodzinski said. “But then he went and celebrated, I knew he tipped it. All good feelings.”

Brodzinski, a fifth-round pick in the 2013 draft, was called up from Ontario on March 23 and has played just four games and 51 minutes in the NHL.

“I feel like I’ve been playing some pretty good games,” he said. “I’ve been getting my chances, just pucks weren’t going to the back of the net. Tonight, take that shot, Shore gets a tip on it, and then create that puck battle on the boards and we get a goal there, too.

“Just keep plugging away, keep playing my game and good things will happen.”

Playoff elimination brings out the best in the Kings

One game after their postseason hopes mathematically ended, the Kings, offensively challenged all season, scored six times, matching the team’s second-highest output of the season.

“It’s kind of weird,” said Tanner Pearson, whose third-period goal proved to the game-winner. “You get removed from the playoffs and you come out with a six-goal game. It would’ve been nice to have that a couple of games ago.”

Even more impressive: The six goals, which included an empty-netter from Drew Doughty, came on only 27 shots.

“We were just executing on some of the chances that we’ve had,” said Shore, whose four points were a career high and tied the season high for a Kings player this season. “There were some looks that we’ve had the last couple games, but tonight they went in.

Kings have the recipe for stopping Connor McDavid — and the Oilers

The NHL’s scoring leader assisted on Edmonton’s first goal but was held in check for the rest of the night as the playoff-bound Oilers lost their 11th consecutive game at the Staples Center. In five games against the Kings this season, McDavid has a goal and three assists, which sounds pretty good. But only three other Western Conference teams have limited McDavid to fewer than four points.

“You know you’re not going to shut him down. That’s a fact,” Coach Darryl Sutter said. “You can just try to stay on top of him and not turn pucks over, and if you do that, you have a better opportunity.

“It’s like playing against [Pittsburgh’s] Sidney Crosby. It’s not a one-man deal. It’s got to be a team deal, and probably at some point the goaltending’s got to make a big save or [somebody] not taking a penalty, things like that that give a star more space.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

Twitter: kbaxter11