It was a contest based on the premise — a quite reasonable premise — that the Kings would make the playoffs.

Mercury Insurance had a deal for Kings fans: get an online quote for auto insurance, receive a collectible mini-stick set and be entered for a chance to win a pair of tickets to every 2015 Kings playoff home game.

Five finalists were randomly selected, then Fountain Valley resident Anita Russell won a final on-ice contest at Staples Center last Saturday. Then the Kings lost their next three games and were eliminated from playoff contention Thursday.

”We considered the possibility,” Erik Thompson, Mercury’s advertising director, said Friday. ”We just never thought it was going to happen.”

So, now what? Mercury had a prearranged contingency plan, and it’s not a bad one. Instead of playoff tickets, Russell will receive a pair of upper-bowl season tickets for the 2015-16 Kings season.

According to Mercury’s official contest rules, those season tickets are worth $1,397.50, while the maximum value for playoff tickets would have been $3,326. That assumed, though, that the Kings would play a maximum of 16 home playoff games, which was highly unlikely.

If the Kings had made the playoffs and been swept in the first round, Russell would have attended two games for free. Now, she has the opportunity to attend 41 regular-season games.

In a quote provided by Mercury, Russell said, ”Winning the Mercury Insurance promotion is absolutely amazing. It is a little bittersweet feeling. I was excited to see them win another Cup this year, but now I get to watch them at all of their home games next year.”

Still, there was a reasonable expectation that a playoff-tickets contest would end with playoff games. The Kings had made the playoffs for five consecutive seasons, but Mercury couldn’t account for the Kings’ inability to score late-season goals, and executives who ran the contest were good-natured when asked if they seriously anticipated having to shift to a backup plan.

”Not at all,’’ said Kyle Reuter, a marketing executive at Pacific Communications Group who helped handle the contest. ”The Kings were going to make the playoffs the whole way.’’