Kings special teams ruin special comeback for Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers got a taste of their own playoff medicine Monday night.

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As the puck dropped on the fourth-straight opening-round series against the Los Angeles Kings, no one should have been surprised special teams played a big factor in a wild back-and-forth 6-5 loss at Crypto.com Arena to the best home team in the NHL this season.

Unless, of course, you didn’t expect the Kings to be on the receiving end of two power-play goals that made the difference between a one-goal win and a one-goal loss in Game 1.

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Recent history shows that department belongs almost solely to the Oilers, who accumulated 25 power-play goals the 18 playoff games making up the past three years the two teams have met in Round 1.

In 2022, the Oilers went 7-for-19 (36.8 per cent) on the man advantage on the way to winning in seven games.

In 2023, they went a ridiculous 9-for-15 (56.3 per cent) on the way to winning in six games.

And in 2024, they needed just five games to win the series, thanks in no small part to a power play that went 9-for-20 (45.0 per cent).

In the Kings’ defence, they weren’t the only ones to fall victim to an Oilers offensive onslaught while outnumbered last year, as Edmonton posted a second-best playoff percentage of 29.3 per cent on the way to reaching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

At the same time, Edmonton barely gave up anything when they were the ones serving the penalty, as they killed them off at a 94.3 per-cent clip.

So, the Kings couldn’t be blamed for being a little gun shy about things getting off the regular 5-on-5 script heading into their fourth-straight meeting.

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“I mean, if you look at the last couple years, special teams have been huge,” Kings captain Anze Kopitar said during a recent trip to Edmonton, when asked what the biggest determining factor will be this time around. “And they torched us last year.

“So, we’re definitely looking to improve on that this year.”

And improve they have. Out of the gates, at least.

The Kings power play was ranked 27th overall at a measly 17.9 per cent success rate over the regular season, compared to the Oilers’ 12th-ranked 23.7 per cent.

But L.A.’s penalty kill shone at 81.4 per cent this year, good for eighth overall compared to Edmonton’s middling 71.8 per cent on the kill, which ranked 16th.

And the Kings wasted no time getting on the board with a power-play goal in the first three minutes. And when Edmonton had a chance to respond five minutes later on a power play of their own, they managed just a single shot on goal.

And that was it for penalties all the way until the third period, when L.A. went up 5-2 on the only other power-play goal of the night, before the Oilers finally decided to make a game of it with three goals in under 11 minutes.

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While the Oilers rallied back to take a 5-4 advantage in the even strength game, their power play spun its tires at 0-for-2, while the Kings ended up taking the early lead in the series by going 2-for-5 on the man advantage.

Of course, one game does not make a series and there is still plenty of time for the Oilers to get their gusto back. Especially considering their two top guns, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, were playing together Monday for the first time in 16 games thanks to injuries down the stretch.

They combined on two goals, and McDavid factored on four of Edmonton’s five 5-on-5 tallies with a goal and three assists. So, it’s a safe bet the power play will get re-established sooner or later.

But these Kings are proving they are certainly no slouches. And with a goal scored by either side in the final minute of each period Monday, this series is shaping up to go right down to the wire.

At the same time, the Kings know they have more to focus on than simply the special-teams aspect of the game.

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“Just staying consistent, really,” Kopitar said. “Playoffs can hit a lot of highs but also a lot of lows in a hurry.

“So, try to stay even keel and just go about our business.”

And so far for Kopitar & Co., business is good.

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge

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