EQUAL OPPORTUNITY ON POWER PLAY Special teams coming up big for Oilers so far
Team has not surrendered a power-play goal to Kings through first two games
The Edmonton Oilers penalty kill was far from a source of pride for much of this season, but in the last 18 league games, going back to March 24, they quietly had the No. 1 PK at 92.5 per cent.
And it's carried over to the two playoff games against Los Angeles.
They're at 100 per cent on the kill ratio with Ryan Nugent-hopkins and Zach Hyman as the No. 1 unit and Derek Ryan keying the second with help from Ryan Mcleod, Evander Kane, Kailer Yamamoto and Leon Draisaitl.
“In the last couple of months we've laid a good foundation in what we want our special teams to look like. It's rolled into the playoffs,” said Derek Ryan, who also has been a key piece on the PK. “We've gotten back to our structure, started blocking shots, winning faceoffs at the start of the kills which is huge to get the puck down the ice. We're all on the same page now. Before, it was a little disjointed.”
Usually teams are getting two, maybe three power plays in a game. But the referees have been whistling while they work this post-season.
“There's been more penalties called than I expected in the beginning of the playoffs,” said Ryan, who made some deft, clever stick take-aways in Game 2. “We all know special teams are huge come playoff time. You only get so many. We want our power play to be lethal. The penalty kill's been doing the same. It's creating momentum by killing them off.”
Ryan made a heads-up play to save a possible goal by Anze Kopitar in the second period with Yamamoto in the box for slashing, just after Draisaitl had scored on the PP.
“(Phillip) Danault got it and was taking it to the net. He had to take it to his backhand, so he gave me a split second to get back. I knew if he went to his backhand, he was going to try to sauce it back door,” said Ryan. “That's my guy. I have to get back there and have that coverage. I got it, got it out, and then got hit pretty hard.”
In Game 2, the second unit with Kane, Mcleod, Yamamoto and Evan Bouchard on the point actually got more work than the No. 1 group of Connor Mcdavid, Draisaitl, Hyman and Tyson Barrie.
Draisaitl, Mcdavid, Hyman and Barrie got 1:49 on the PP. Kane had 3:14, Mcleod 2:51 and Bouchard 2:03. Part of the extra work was because the Oilers were up 5-0 at the time, so rest the big dogs, don't rub it in. But the second group has had more responsibility for months now.
“We know Davo's (Mcdavid) unit is going to get the majority of the time. As a second group, we have to be ready to strike quick when we get ours. And, you know, I think we've done a great job of that ever since I've gotten here anyways,” said Kane.
BOMBS AWAY
Bouchard, who has six shots on Jonathan Quick and 15 directed at the net in the first two games, hit the post with one snapshot in heavy traffic in Game 2 and set up Mcleod for a tip to make it 3-0. With 43 points in 81 regular-season games and only 107 minutes on the power play, he has three more assists in the first two playoff games.
His shot gets through bodies an inordinate amount of times.
“His shot's just heavy. Some guys just have the technique down where they use the stick and their ability to shoot and it goes really fast. And he's one of those guys who can let it rip kind of effortlessly. He's obviously learned that craft,” said Oilers goalie Mike Smith, who sees that every practice. “He finds ways to sift pucks through with his wrister and then when he gets a chance to let it rip, he can hammer it home, too. It's a great asset.”
THIS 'N' THAT
The Oilers flew out after Game 2 but didn't go to Los Angeles. As TSN'S Darren Dreger tweeted, they chartered to Vancouver, stayed overnight and then bused into Washington state Thursday morning for a flight to L.A. to avoid COVID-19 testing. No tests required for land travel across the border ... Mcleod got his first playoff goal Wednesday, and also assisted on Evander Kane's second score in 15 minutes of work. “He touches a lot of parts of the game. Reminds me of Kris Draper (Detroit),” said Oilers general manager Ken Holland. Mcleod has won 11 of 19 faceoffs over two games and has five shots. Draper, now Wings head of amateur scouting, was a wonderful skater but Mcleod is even faster ... Draisaitl took 32 faceoffs in Game 1, only 15 in Game 2, yet the team totals were very close (65 draws in Game 1, 63 in Game 2) ... Wonder if Ben Stelter, their goodluck charm here, will find his way to games in L.A. since he's there with his family for a Disneyland trip ... Defenceman Brett Kulak didn't get PK time in Montreal but he is here. As he said after the Habs trade, “I'd like to try it.” He had 2:31 in Game 1 and 3:08 in Game 2 ... Draisaitl had his fewest minutes (15:10) all season in Game 2. He now has 13 goals in 23 career playoff games — last 10 games, seven goals. His PP ripper on Quick in Game 2 was vintage Draisaitl. “Holy cow, a heckuva shot. Game-winning goal when the game was in the balance (0-0 early in the second period),” said Woodcroft ... Since Woodcroft's first game as head coach Feb. 11 against the Islanders, Kane has 24 goals in 40 games. Kane's played 812 league games but only 31 in the playoffs in his career ... The Kings badly miss their second-line sparkplug Viktor Arvidsson, who has sat for the first two with a lower-body issue. He's not even skating with the team.