Edmonton 3-for-16 on power play in series, allowed 3 goals to Panthers while short-handed in Game 3
© Brian Babineau/NHLI
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Edmonton Oilers’ power play is concerning for opponents, and with good reason.
Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, go on down the list. Each of Edmonton’s units is loaded with talent.
But the Oilers’ power play hasn’t been as prolific in the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers, going 3-for-16 (18.8 percent) through the first three games. They’ll try for more success with the man-advantage in Game 4 at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).
Edmonton trails 2-1 in the best-of-7 series.
Its penalty kill has struggled too; the Oilers have allowed five power-play goals in 17 short-handed situations (70.6 percent) in the Cup Final. The Panthers went 3-for-11 on the power play in their 6-1 victory in Game 3 on Monday.
“I mean, we put ourselves a little bit too much in the (penalty) box and you have to kill, and it gives obviously their top players more opportunities to go there and touch the puck and play the puck,” Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse said. “So yeah, we’ve got to be better in that department.”
The Oilers’ struggles on the penalty kill are hardly new; they finished 16th during the regular season (78.2 percent), were 15th last season (79.5 percent) and 20th in 2022-23 (77 percent).
But their power play has been a big reason for their success. It was 12th this season (23.7 percent), fourth last season (26.3 percent) and No. 1 in the League in 2022-23 (32.4 percent).
The Oilers’ power play, second among all Stanley Cup Playoff teams last season (29.3 percent), was converting at a 30-percent rate (12-for-40) heading into this season’s Cup Final.
Draisaitl’s goal on the man-advantage at 19:29 of overtime gave Edmonton a 4-3 win in Game 1 on June 4. The Oilers have managed one power-play goal in each of the past two games, including going 1-for-6 in a physical, penalty-laden Game 3.
“I think we certainly need more pucks going into the net, but I think we’ve had some power plays, especially early in games where we had some good looks, we had some good opportunities, and they just didn’t go in,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “If they go in, maybe they change the game a little bit.
“Thinking about the first one (in Game 3) and I know (defenseman Evan) Bouchard had some good chances; one for sure, if not two. Maybe that changes things a little bit. Thinking about the first power play (in) Game 2 in Edmonton, same thing early. We had some really good looks, and unfortunately you can’t always put them in. I guess where it really caught us was Game 2. We had a bad power play, killed momentum and we gave up a goal against. It’s tough.”
That power play Knoblauch was referring to in Game 2 came when Florida defenseman Niko Mikkola was called for hooking at 11:06 of the second period. After being unable to generate quality chances, Panthers forward Brad Marchand scored short-handed 1:03 into that man-advantage to give the Panthers a 4-3 lead.
“I’ve always said this, if you can create momentum for the rest of the team, you’ve done your job,” said forward Corey Perry, who scored the Oilers’ lone power-play goal in Game 3 at 1:40 of the second. “Yeah, you want to score every single time you’re on the power play. Yeah, you do. But are you going to score? No, not every single time.
“If you can create momentum for the rest of the team, and guys are on the bench (saying), ‘Oh, that was close,’ that just sets up the next shift and the shift after that. It creates some energy. (In Game 3), we had some good looks in the first period, we found one in the second. But it’s the momentum that you want to try to continue to carry over for the next shift after the power play.”
Perry’s goal cut Florida’s lead to 2-1, but Sam Reinhart scored 1:20 later at 3:00 to put the Panthers up 3-1. They never looked back.
Special teams is crucial in the playoffs, and this Cup Final hasn’t been any different, especially given how many penalties have already been called (56 combined). The Oilers want to take advantage when they get a power play.
“When you look at the percentages, it’s not where it usually is and not accustomed to, but there’ve always been times in the regular season where, a five-game sequence or 10-game sequence, it hasn’t been that good,” Knoblauch said. “It’d be nice to get more power-play goals, certainly I think we’ll get more opportunities, and we have to be ready to capitalize on it.”
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