May 2, 2024 by Eric Friesen

Zach Hyman scored his league-leading seventh goal of the playoff to lift the Edmonton Oilers to a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings in Game 5 of the 2024 Western Conference First Round at Rogers Place on Wednesday.

With the victory, the Oilers advanced to the second round of the playoffs in three consecutive years for the first time since 1990 through 1992 (when they also eliminated the Kings in three straight years). Additionally, the Oilers became only the third non-Original Six team to hold eight playoff series victories over a single opponent.

The Oilers knocked out the Kings in seven games in 2022, and six games last season, before making even quicker work of their longtime rivals this spring, winning the series in just five games. Edmonton also improved to 5-1 in potential series-clinching games since the 2017 playoffs.

Call Outs

After failing to get much going offensively in this series besides an empty-net goal late in Game 1, Warren Foegele was dropped to the fourth line for Game 5. Foegele had one nice rush with the puck, where he nearly split two defenders, but didn’t have much of an impact in 10:16 of ice time. The 28-year-old showed that he plays well with elite talent during the regular season, but he needs to make more positive plays in the offensive zone to get another look in the top-six.

With more 200 career playoff games on his resume, Corey Perry has more post-season experience than any player on the Oilers. However, he has yet to make an impact in these playoffs. He took an offensive zone penalty in the second period, and needed to be helped off the ice after crashing hard into the boards. The 38-year-old also had the puck roll off his stick on a two-on-one pass from Evander Kane. More will be expected of Perry in the next round.

Stand Outs

Leon Draisaitl was undoubtedly the best player on the ice in Game 5. He scored twice in the second period – both from low in the right circle – to quickly turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead for this team at a crucial point in the game. The 28-year-old drove through contact in the neutral zone and drew an obvious holing penalty, which led to the go-ahead goal.

As great as he is during the regular season, Draisaitl has proven to be an even better playoff performer throughout his career. Despite not reaching a Stanley Cup Final yet, Draisaitl has 60 playoff points since 2022, good for second-most in the league during that span. Defensively, he also applied fantastic back pressure to deny Trevor Moore of a quality scoring chance.

Connor McDavid delivered another excellent outing in Game 5, setting up both of Draisaitl’s second-period goals and nearly pulled up his signature move of banking the puck off the goalie’s name bar and in the net. Despite being doubled-teamed at times in the offensive zone, McDavid still managed to outmaneuver the Kings’ defenders and make create chances.

He tallied two helpers, giving him the league lead in assists (11) and points (12) in the playoffs this year. His 11 assists were also the second-most in NHL history by a player in his first five games of a playoff year. Only Gretzky had more, with 13 in 1987. Even more impressively, McDavid became the first NHL player to record 110 assists in a single season, including playoffs, since Doug Gilmour in 1992-93. McDavid also becomes the first Oiler to achieve the feat since Wayne Gretzky in 1987-88.

Shout Outs

While he rarely makes any headlines, Derek Ryan gives his team solid minutes whenever he gets on the ice. The 37-year-old helped the Oilers penalty kill stay perfect in the series, put up strong numbers in the faceoff circle and helped lock down the fourth win of the series. At age 37, I think Ryan benefits from not having to play every day at this stage of his career.