EDMONTON 鈥� The roles have been reversed.
In last season's first-round playoff matchup, the Edmonton Oilers took a 2-1 series lead and the Los Angeles Kings stormed back to take Games 4 and 5. That meant the Oilers had to play desperate hockey in Game 6 in order to survive. They did 鈥� and went on to take the series.
This year, the results are backwards five games into the series. It鈥檚 the Kings that had the 2-1 series lead, lost two in a row, and now face elimination in Saturday night鈥檚 Game 6 at Crypto.com Arena.
So, knowing what it was like last year going into a do-or-die Game 6, the Oilers have something of an idea of the sense of desperation that鈥檚 been building in the Kings鈥� dressing room.
鈥淲e were in the opposite position last year,鈥� said Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse. 鈥淲e fed off a big win in Game 6. So, for us, there鈥檚 an importance on getting the right result tomorrow night, and that鈥檚 where we keep our minds.
鈥淲hen elimination is so close, either way really, with two potential games left in this series, the urgency on both sides is going to be high and, for us, we鈥檝e got to bring a level that鈥檚 higher than theirs.鈥�
Desperation. Urgency. These are words that are tossed about whenever elimination games come around. And they come from both the team that鈥檚 on the brink, and the team that has the advantage.聽
鈥淚 know they鈥檙e going to be a desperate hockey club,鈥� said Oilers winger Kailer Yamamoto. "Just playing in a game like that last year, there鈥檚 a lot of pressure, a lot of nerves, stuff like that going, too. There鈥檚 a lot of adrenalin, so I know they鈥檙e going to be pushing tomorrow.鈥�
The thing about elimination games is that they often go one of two ways; either both teams go hammer-and-tong at each other in a matchup filled with emotion, or things get cautious and cagey, and it鈥檚 about who blinks first.
The Oilers believe it will be closer to hammer-and-tong than a chess match.
鈥淚 think where our focus lies is making sure that we bring our best game of the series here in game number six,鈥� said coach Jay Woodcroft. 鈥淲e understand what the challenge is, we understand where we鈥檙e playing the game, we understand the strengths of the other team. But, in the end, we think if we play our best game, we鈥檙e a tough team to beat.鈥�
After a full practice day Thursday, the Oilers held an optional skate Friday.
After their Game 5 loss in Edmonton, the Kings vowed that they鈥檇 get off to a better start in Game 6. The Kings went down 2-0 early to the Oilers in their most recent encounter, and were chasing the game throughout.
"We've got to play more assertive, right from the start,鈥� said Kings veteran Anze Kopitar, owner of a couple Stanley Cup rings, after Game 5. 鈥淚 mean, it's the start we didn't want tonight, and didn't need."
But, observers of this series may have every right to question if the starts of games actually, well, mean anything. It has been a bizarre series, to say the least. Traditional hockey wisdom is that scoring the first goal is huge in the playoffs, and deficits are hard to overcome. Not this series. We鈥檝e seen teams build 2-0 or 3-0 leads and get pegged back multiple times. The Kings stormed to a 3-0 lead in Game 4, and blew it, eventually losing in overtime.
But, despite the weird, short history of this series, the Oilers feel that they can鈥檛 afford another sluggish start in front of comedian and Kings super fan Will Ferrell and the rest of the Los Angeles crowd.
鈥淎bsolutely,鈥� said Yamamoto of the need to start a heck of a lot better in Los Angeles, this time around. 鈥淚 mean, look at the start, the last game in their barn. We were down 3-0 within 10, 15 minutes. I know they鈥檙e going to have a big start and we鈥檝e got to weather it.鈥�
The shifts in momentum, game to game and within games, have been huge. With what we鈥檝e seen so far, it鈥檚 hard to see Game 6 being a low-scoring, cagey affair. It feels like these teams don鈥檛 even begin to know how to do that.聽
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2023.
Steven Sandor, The Canadian Press
