The Oilers look to even their series with the Kings in Game 2 at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday
The Edmonton Oilers look to even up their first-round series with the Los Angeles Kings in Game 2 at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night.
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Tony & Bob discuss Game 1 plus Kane & Klingberg’s impending returns
LOS ANGELES, CA – Reset, reload and be ready to go for Game 2.
The Edmonton Oilers are certain they’ll be ready to go when the puck drops on Game 2 of their first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena after fighting all the way back in Game 1 only to have all their hard work erased on a bad bounce in the final minute.
“I think our group maybe wasn’t quite ready to roll right away. They were ready to go,” Connor McDavid said on Tuesday. “I thought their first 40 minutes was really strong, and we weren’t able to match it. We raised our game in the third period and found a way to make it a game, but we’ve got to be ready to go right away.”
The Kings thoroughly dominated the first 40 minutes of Game 1 to build a 4-0 lead before Leon Draisaitl’s one-timer assisted by Connor McDavid with 4.7 seconds left in the second period got things going for the Oilers as they prepared to break through in the final frame.
Mattias Janmark and Kevin Fiala traded goals early in the third before the Oilers scored three straight through Corey Perry, Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid to make it 5-5.
McDavid orchestrated another one of his clutch performances by assisting on Perry and Hyman’s tallies that made it 5-4 before he netting the equalizer himself with 1:28 left in the third period, looking like he’d gotten his team to overtime.
Cue the late heartbreak.
Connor talks Tuesday about his team’s Game 1 defeat to the Kings
Kings forward Phillip Danault ended Edmonton’s heroic rally in Game 1 when he fluttered through his second goal of the game on Los Angeles’ last rush with 41.1 seconds left in regulation, avoiding the late collapse for the Kings with a 6-5 victory that gives them the 1-0 series lead.
“We knew that it was going to be a difficult task,” Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. “LA’s playing really well, especially at home, but it was nice to see that we were able to break through and score some goals late in the game – something that we haven’t done very much of.”
“I think there’s some areas that we thought we could be better, including staying out of the penalty box. They scored two power play goals, so there’s the difference of the game. But there’s other things that we need to get better at to give ourselves an opportunity.”
Goaltender Stuart Skinner is confident the Oilers can draw on their veteran experience in these moments to earn a split of the first two games of the series with a better 60-minute effort in Game 2. To do that, the Oilers will have to wipe the slate clean from Game 1 and focus solely on on what’s ahead of them.
“It’s in the past and you can’t do anything about it, so you earn from your mistakes and just move on,” Skinner said. “Even if it was a great game, I’d be saying the same thing. It’s time to reset. That’s kind of playoff hockey. I’ve talked about before the whole roller coaster of emotions of a series, so whether you win 6-0, win 6-5, lose 6-0, whatever happens, you just gotta forget about it and move on to the next one.”
Stuart speaks from the team hotel on Tuesday in Los Angeles
After giving up too many penalties in Game 1 to result in the Kings going 2-for-6 on the power play, the Oilers penalty kill will need to be cognizant of their five-forward power-play unit that presents different challenges than previous years, which have traditionally been dominated by Edmonton.
“In the previous three playoff matchups, special teams were heavily lopsided in Edmonton’s favor and I believe that we still have a very good power play,” Knoblauch said. “I think their power play has improved and I don’t anticipate us dominating the special teams battle like we had previously, but it definitely is our goal to come ahead because that’ll probably be the difference of this series.”
Connor McDavid wants to see his team do a better job coming through the middle of the ice on zone entries after the Kings’ tight defending at their own blueline made for a tough night trying to get established in the offensive zone.
“I thought we struggled coming through the neutral zone. Obviously, that’s their staple,” McDavid said. “Been that way for a long time, and I thought we struggled to get on the forecheck, We gave up too many easy ones and it’s tough to recover. We just have to have speed going into the forecheck. I think we were standing still too much. We’ll figure that out.”
Kris reflects on Game 1 from the team’s hotel in Los Angeles
Evander Kane is getting close to making his season debut for the Oilers, but whether that’s in Game 2, 3 or 4 remains to be seen for the winger, who’s spent the entire season recovering from off-season surgery on Sept. 20 and a further arthroscopic knee surgery on Jan. 9.
“Evander is very close,” Knoblauch said. “He has not been cleared by the doctors yet, but we’re going to see him at some point during this series. But to say that he’s going to play in Game 2 right now is a little premature, so we’ll just wait and see when he’s coming in.
Defenceman John Klingberg is also an option on the back end for the Oilers as a puck-moving option who’s recovered from his injury that’s kept him out of the lineup since Mar. 27 (11 games). Klingberg could come in to replace Josh Brown, who played only 4:54 of ice time in Game 1.
“Klingberg is very close as well, and that’s another option that we have,” Knoblauch said. “Last night we’re chasing the game, and it would’ve been nice to have to add a little more offensive flarie, but I think we’re looking at what’s best for our group and Klingberg is a very good possibility.”
