Oilers buy valuable time off by dispatching Kings early
During what they hope is a deep run through the gruelling Stanley Cup playoffs this spring, the Edmonton Oilers will take all the time off they can get.
“Rest is always a good thing,” captain Connor McDavid said. “Rest is a weapon this time of year.”
The Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 on Wednesday night at Rogers Place to close out their best-of-seven series in five games and advance to the second round, saving themselves a long trip back to Los Angeles for Game 6.
“In the long run … these extra days are massive, they’re critical,” forward Leon Draisaitl said. “Same thing with the travel. We lose (Wednesday) and you have to get back on the plane and head to L.A. We dug deep to earn that right to get a little bit of rest.”
In the meantime, the Oilers are waiting to see who they’ll face next on the road to the Stanley Cup.
Edmonton will face the winner between the Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators. Vancouver leads that series three games to two heading into Game 6 in Nashville on Friday.
“I’d be lying if I said that I’m not going to pay attention to it,” Draisaitl said.
Should Nashville even the series, Game 7 goes Sunday and Edmonton would get at least five days off.
Though rest is a weapon, McDavid said the Oilers also can’t become complacent and lose the momentum.
“We’ve got to make sure that we work, we practise hard against each other, make sure we’re ready to go,” he said. “There’s no change in our game. Everyone that’s left is a good team. They’ve got great players that are competing hard, too.”
The Oilers earned the break after they outclassed the Kings on special teams, something both coaches said made the difference.
Edmonton, with McDavid and Draisaitl leading the way, went 9for-20 with the man advantage and scored twice moments after a penalty expired in the series clincher. McDavid led the playoffs with 12 points and Draisaitl was second with 10 entering Thursday night. On the penalty kill, the Oilers held the Kings scoreless in 12 opportunities.
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said finding ways to keep those special teams rolling will be one of the priorities during the time off.
“Whoever we see next round, the power play’s going to look different just because of the way the other team’s going to kill,” Knoblauch said. “We’ll have to be prepared for that.”
The Oilers eliminated the Kings in the first round for the third year in a row. They won in seven games in 2022, six last year.
Last year, the Oilers fell in the second round to the Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights in six games. The year before, they were swept in the conference final by the Colorado Avalanche, who also went on to win the Cup.