EDMONTON 鈥� It鈥檚 hard to believe the Edmonton Oilers power play could get even better after a record-setting regular season.
But it has.
The Los Angeles Kings go into Saturday鈥檚 Game 6 of their first-round playoff series with the Oilers with one goal in mind 鈥� staving off elimination. But, to do that, they鈥檒l need to stop going to the penalty box, or find a way to stop the Oilers' juggernaut of a power play.
The Oilers, who had an NHL all-time best 32.4 success rate with the man advantage during the regular season, have clicked on eight of 14 chances so far this series.聽
The irony is that, over the course of regular season meetings, the Kings killed off 11 of 13 short-handed situations. Against a power play like the Oilers possess, those were gaudy numbers.
鈥淭hey had some success against us in the regular season,鈥� said the NHL鈥檚 top scorer, Connor McDavid. 鈥淭hey work us hard. But, the strength of our power play is winning battles. It always has been. It鈥檚 not structure, it鈥檚 not anything fancy, although it may look fancy.鈥�
The Kings led the series after three games, but now trail 3-2.聽
Power-play goals have turned Games 4 and 5 on their ears. In Game 4, down 3-0 in Los Angeles, Evan Bouchard got a power-play marker early in the second period to spark the comeback that led to a 5-4 Oilers win. It wasn鈥檛 just that Bouchard scored; it鈥檚 that the goal changed the momentum of the game.
In Game 5, a 6-3 win for Edmonton, the Oilers went 2-for-3 on the power play.聽
The first goal of that game came after Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the first power-play unit went off the ice. It felt like the Kings breathed a collective sigh of relief, let their guard down and were burned by the second unit as an Evander Kane wrister found the net.
After the Kings clawed back to make it a 3-2 game, the Oilers power play not only scored 鈥� with a Bouchard point shot deflecting off Zach Hyman鈥檚 face 鈥� it gave the home side a massive momentum boost, and the score snowballed from there.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know who it hit, I didn鈥檛 know where it hit,鈥� said Bouchard. 鈥淟uckily, it didn鈥檛 catch him in too bad of a spot.鈥�
The short-handed situation the Kings were able to kill off came late in the game with Edmonton up by three goals. The Oilers were focused on running seconds off the clock.
聽"A couple of errant plays, a penalty that we certainly didn't need, and they were able to score a couple of goals,鈥� said Kings forward Anze Kopitar. 鈥淏ut, coming in at 3-2, it felt like it was anybody's game."聽
Both Kopitar and coach Todd McLellan were curt in their answers when asked if the Oilers power play can be stopped.
Kopitar said the Kings simply can鈥檛 take penalties.
鈥淲e knew that going in,鈥� he said.
"We'll try and adjust," is what McLellan added about his team鈥檚 penalty kill.
McDavid says the Oilers will be ready for any tweaks the Kings make.
鈥淚 suspect they鈥檙e just going to ramp up their effort level, their pressure,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what they did in the regular season. I would suspect that it would go up.
鈥淲ith that being said, it鈥檚 nothing we haven鈥檛 faced before. We know it鈥檚 going to be difficult, they鈥檙e not just going to try and let us score.鈥�
In Game 5, the Kings had one of the penalty killers apply more pressure on Bouchard, but the Oilers have so many set plays and weapons that they can cycle through.聽
Draisaitl scored many of his 32 regular-season power-play goals on one-timers from the side of the net. McDavid can set up behind the net or make a speed burst to the front. Hyman sets up in front of the net for garbage. They have made many good penalty killers chase shadows.聽
When the Oilers traded Tyson Barrie to Nashville at the trade deadline for Mattias Ekholm, there were questions about what it would do to the Oilers鈥� vaunted power play. Could Bouchard graduate successfully to the role of power-play quarterback?聽
The answer has been a resounding yes. If anything, the power play has improved. Bouchard has a heavier shot from the point 鈥� the 鈥淏ouch Bomb鈥� 鈥� and a nasty wrister, as well. He has eight points through the first five playoff games 鈥� seven of them on the power play.
鈥淚 guess there was (pressure on me) a little bit,鈥� said Bouchard. 鈥淏ut, you try not to think of it that way, you think of it more as an opportunity than pressure.鈥澛�
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 27, 2023.
Steven Sandor, The Canadian Press
