Janmark scores the winner as Edmonton dominates Los Angeles & can end the series on Thursday
LOS ANGELES, CA – Back to ‘Berta, baby, with a 3-2 series lead.
Mattias Janmark scored the game-winning goal and Calvin Pickard stopped 21 of 22 shots between the pipes as the Oilers put on an absolute clinic in Game 5 of their series with Los Angeles on Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena, outshooting the Kings 46-22 and outscoring them 3-1 to head back to Edmonton with a chance to advance to the second round on Thursday.
The Oilers got their first goal from Evander Kane and an empty-netter from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to secure their third consecutive win after dropping the opening two games of the series.
Since the start of the third period of Game 4 on Sunday, the Oilers have outscored the Kings 6-1 and outshot them 79-34.
“That was a nice reminder of how we can play when we’re urgent and desperate,” Kane said. “We wanted to come up with that same mindset tonight and I thought we did a great job of that.”
Kane, Janmark & Nugent-Hopkins score as the Oilers win Game 5
The Oilers did everything but score in the opening frame, dominating the Kings with a 19-4 shot advantage including 14-2 scoring chances and 7-0 high-danger scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The visitors earned the first power play of the night at 4:26 when Andrei Kuzmenko stuck his leg out on Zach Hyman and took down the Oilers winger. Hyman took some extra time getting back up but appeared no worse for wear and Edmonton headed to the man advantage. Their shot barrage continued but they were unable to find the back of the net.
The Kings got their first PP opportunity soon after when Janmark got called for roughing on Jeff Mallot, launching the forward into goaltender Darcy Kuemper on a scrum in the crease.
The home side finally generated their first shot of the game on the man advantage just before the midway mark of the period, but Oilers killed Janmark’s penalty and were leading shots 12-2.
With 8:34 left on the clock, the Oilers had their best chance of the period when Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard sprung free on a mini two-on-one, but Kuemper pushed across his crease and flashed the leather to deny the Edmonton blueliner after a setup from the captain.
Evander & Calvin speak after the Game 5 victory over the Kings
Despite the dominant opening frame from the Oilers, it was the Kings who were able to draw first blood in Game 5 with their eighth power-play goal of the series courtesy Andrei Kuzmenko.
With Darnell Nurse in the box for tripping, the Los Angeles winger redirected a shot from Anze Kopitar right in front of Calvin Pickard for his third of the playoffs and a 1-0 Kings lead at 3:33.
The advantage didn’t last long, though, as the Kings returned the favour with a tripping penalty of their own when Drew Doughty took down Leon Draisaitl with the Oilers on the attack.
Edmonton’s PP wasn’t able to convert, but they did net the equalizer soon after Doughty returned to the ice when John Klingberg kept a Kings clearing attempt in just inside the blueline and found Evander Kane in the high slot for a wrist-shot snipe over Kuemper’s glove and his second goal in the last three games.
“The feeling was really there after the first period that we’re outplaying them, we’ve got them where we want and now we just gotta keep pushing the gas,” Janmark said. “Even when they scored, just try to get it back and Kaner got it right back and away we went.”
Despite missing the entire regular season and Game 1 of the series as he recovered from multiple surgeries, Kane has quickly found his playoff form that has resulted in 22 post-season tallies in 51 appearances with the Blue & Orange, including 14 against the Kings.
The Oilers continued to dominate shots, lead Los Angeles 33-12 through 40 minutes. Natural Stat Trick had Edmonton ahead 29-8 in scoring chances and 17-2 in high-danger scoring chances.
Mattias speaks after scoring the winning goal in Game 5 vs. the Kings
With a pivotal final 20 minutes underway, both teams were playing a bit more conservative than they had the previous two periods, but the Oilers were able to secure their first lead of the night on Janmark’s tally at 7:12.
Vasily Podkolzin corraled a puck in the neutral zone and found Viktor Arvidsson streaking down the right side. The Swede ripped a wrist shot on net and Kuemper turned it aside with his blocker, but the puck went right to Janmark who hammered it into the twine for his second goal of the series.
“You always black out a little when you score big goals like that,” he said. “When you get to that time of the game, the bounces become big and they can go either way. The puck ended up on my stick and I just tried to bury it.”
Janmark has already matched his goal total from the regular season and said he takes a lot of pride in contributing when the stakes are at their highest.
“I kind of had a funny feeling there when game 70 hit and I only had one or two goals, I knew I wasn’t going to have a career year,” he laughed. “I had a feeling that they might show up here in the playoffs.”
Kris discusses Tuesday’s dominant 3-1 win over the Kings in Game 5
The Kings had a chance to tie it up when Nurse was called for hooking but the Oilers PK stood its ground as the game moved past the 10-minute mark and into the home stretch.
Kuemper’s glove was at it again with 4:11 to go in the game as he plucked a Nugent-Hopkins shot out of the air after a pass from Hyman behind the Los Angeles net.
The home side pulled Kuemper with more than three minutes to go and his former Red Deer Rebels teammate Nugent-Hopkings eventually sealed the victory with the empty-net tally.
The night ended with the Oilers leading scoring chances 35-12 and high-danger scoring chances 20-4, according to Natural Stat Trick, as they’ll to carry that dominance into Thursday.
“The playoffs are an emotional roller-coaster for both teams, and you’ve gotta make sure you’re able to steady yourself even after a win like tonight,” Hyman said. “It’s back to business. Same old. We’ve been here before. We have a huge opportunity to close it out at home. And that’s where the mindset is now.”
