Physical play by Oilers just ground Kings down
Captain Mcdavid led by example with more hits than points in Game 2
They don't give you two wins in a series when you paste a team 6-0 in a playoff game, unfortunately. A 3-2 win in double overtime counts exactly the same as a blowout victory.
But the way Edmonton Oilers exercised their will on the Los Angeles Kings in Game 2 was so thorough, possibly a turning point in this series. They pounded a young defence missing Drew Doughty, who was at Rogers
Place with a cast on his repaired wrist. They got on Jordan Spence and Matt Roy, Sean Durzi and Mikey Anderson who went into the playoffs with a combined zero post-season games.
“You want to get touches on guys as much as you can when they're going back for pucks and it pays dividends in a long series,” said Oilers goalie Mike Smith.
The Kings had the sixth worst power play over 82 regular-season games at 16.1 per cent (only 40 goals on 248 attempts) and they're at zero through the first two playoff games, and they've had eight tries at it. They've had 18 shots on those eight, but no goals.
The Oilers, No. 3 on the power play in the regular season at 26 per cent, have had the same eight PPS, the same 18 shots and have four goals. So if the zealous refs, who've presumably been told by their bosses not to have a seeno-evil standard of penalty calls in the playoffs, keep whistling infractions, this is not good for the Kings.
“We had a good chance when (Alex) Iafallo hit the crossbar but the two power plays we got in the first period didn't gain us a lot of momentum. Where the game changes is they get their power play and score,” said Kings coach Todd Mclellan.
Here's five things of note from Game 2:
1. Sidney Crosby has a history of playing the body in the playoffs but Connor Mcdavid's physicality was eye-popping. He was all over the gamesheet — 61 per cent on faceoffs (7-for-11) to reinforce his much improved work on draws this season (53.7 per cent), two assists, three take-aways, four hits. When's the last time the best player in the world had more hits than points?
He plastered Anderson into the end boards seven minutes in — Anderson was sneaking a couple of peeks to see who was coming — and Mcdavid rightfully got the boarding call. Then, he drilled Iafallo in the second. Iafallo got up, looking for the licence number, and madly took a stick swing at Mcdavid's leg as he lay on the ice.
“When your captain is throwing his weight around, it pulls everyone in the fight. When your leader is banging bodies, it's easy for everybody to do it,” said Smith.
2. Smith showed no hesitancy in handling the puck after his mistake in Game 1 cost the Oilers. As they always say, you've got to have a short memory ... or amnesia. Plus, he made the saves when required — a strong leg stop on Dustin Brown in the first off the wing, another on Durzi coming in late when it was 3-0 late in the second. He's faced 18 shots from the Kings power play over two games and stopped them all. The best penalty killer is supposed to be your goalie.
“It's a fresh, new game and he had a bounceback game like no other,” said Oilers forward Derek Ryan, who's on that penalty killing unit (5:03 over the first two games). “I expect nothing else, great competitor. He was leading the troops.”
3. After just eight minutes of work in Game 1, this was the Jesse Puljujarvi in Game 2 we saw in the first few months of the season where he was confident with the puck on his stick. He wasn't fighting it. His most revealing play came in the second period when he took on a Kings defender on a rush and got away a shot that almost handcuffed Jonathan Quick. Then he slammed in that Mcdavid feed in the third — one of his three shots, with three more than went wide.
“I'm happy for him that he scored that goal and finished off that great feed from Connor for his own personal confidence, but I thought he played a really good game, a full 200-foot game,” said Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft. “I thought that line was dangerous every time they were on the ice. What happened a few days ago is that the new season. He has the confidence of his confidence of his teammates and he's got the confidence of his coaching staff.”
4. Hall of Famer-in-waiting Duncan Keith, at 38, isn't the player he once was, but his playoff chops (137 games) were evident in
Game 2. He played 21:14, more than Darnell Nurse, more than Cody Ceci. He was on the power play and killed penalties. He had 16:30 even-strength minutes. Only his young partner Evan Bouchard (17:17) had more.
“Dunc is a very vocal leader and he's taught Bouch in a lot of areas and Bouch has grabbed that and taken advantage of the opportunity,” said Smith.
5. Inserting Josh Archibald into the fray after just two games in the last month because of his vaccination status, and putting him on the third line with Ryan Nugent-hopkins, not the fourth, seemed a bit of reach. But Archibald rewarded Woodcroft. He got 1:40 of short-handed time, even 55 seconds on the power play, and was aggressive without crossing the line.
“Five hits ... I thought Josh was very good,” said Woodcroft.
Archibald got COVID -19 after last season, which affected his heart muscle at camp. But when healthy his hitting is contagious, especially tag-teaming with Zack Kassian.
Having him now is like a trade deadline acquisition.