May 3, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings by a score of 4-3 in Game 5 of their first round series on Wednesday night. The win sealed victory over the Kings in the first round for the third consecutive spring.

Related: Call Outs, Stand Outs, and Shout Outs – Game 5: Oilers oust Kings from playoffs for third straight year

This series didn’t end up being as tight as I suggested it would be in my series preview. The Kings didn’t play anywhere close to their best game in Games 1 and 3. They barely squeaked by the Oilers in overtime in Game 2. The Kings couldn’t score a goal in what was their best performance of the series in Game 4. They made it interesting late in Game 5, but they couldn’t keep up with the Oilers in the end.

Five-on-Five Play

Series Preview: Advantage EDM

Actual Series: 13-12 LA

The Oilers were one of the best five-on-five teams in the league during the regular season, but the Kings actually finished the series with a slight edge in the discipline. The gap was only one goal, but that also includes the two goals that the Oilers scored mere seconds after powerplays in Game 5. Shot attempts were heavily in favour of the Kings (283-213) according to Natural Stat Trick. This will certainly be something to monitor as the Oilers continue in the playoffs.

Special Teams

Series Preview: Even

Actual Series: MASSIVE Advantage EDM

The intriguing matchup entering the series was the Kings’ second ranked penalty killing unit against the Oilers powerplay, but the Oilers powerplay walked all over the Kings’ penalty kill to the tune of 45% (9/20). Glen Gulutzan unveiled a few new wrinkles that the Kings couldn’t handle.

As fantastic as the powerplay was, the Oilers penalty kill was unbelievable. The Oilers were a perfect 12/12 on the penalty kill in this series. They squashed any opportunities for the Kings to gain momentum off of their powerplay, which was the twelfth best in the league during the regular season. Huge shout out to Mark Stuart and his work on the penalty kill. It has been feast or famine for the Oilers penalty kill this season. Hopefully they can keep feasting for a while longer.

According to Sportsnet, the Oilers’ combined special teams percentage of 145% in round one is the highest mark in a series since 1978. The Oilers won this series by absolutely dominating the Kings on special teams.

Goaltending

Series Preview: Even

Actual Series: Advantage EDM

Cam Talbot had the better numbers in the regular season, but he allowed seven goals in Game 1, four in Game 2, and six in game 3. He was chased from the series after Game 3, and David Rittich took over from there. Meanwhile, Stuart Skinner only allowed one goal in Game 3 and earned a shutout in Game 4. The advantage was decidedly in Skinner’s favour without even looking at the numbers. 

Skinner had a .910 save percentage for the series, but we saw both sides of Skinner in this series. He will give elite goaltending like we saw in Games 3 and 4 of this series, but he will have nights where he gives up four or five goals like he did in Games 1 and 2. It was enough to get the job done in round one against the Kings.

Call Outs

Warren Foegele began his descent down the lineup after making mistakes on three goals against in Game 2. Evander Kane and Dylan Holloway both bumped him down the lineup. The Oilers need him to be the offensive factor that he was in the regular season.

The Oilers didn’t get a single goal from their third line in the series. Ryan McLeod and Corey Perry were held pointless in the five game series. The Oilers will need more offensive production out of that line going forward.

The second line featuring Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and either Evander Kane or Foegele wasn’t great at five-on-five either. They managed to saw off the five-on-five goal share battle due to scoring two goals seconds after powerplays in Game 5, but their shot metrics (34.78%) and expected goals percentage (31.15%) were simply not good enough.

The Oilers will need more out of their middle six offensively in later rounds of these playoffs.

Stand Outs

The usual suspects led the way for the Oilers. Connor McDavid had twelve points in the five game series, including five in Game 1. I was critical of Draisaitl’s five-on-five play, but he did get ten points in the series. It’s hard not to be happy with two points per game! He also drew a penalty in the dying seconds of Game 5 and celebrated his effort afterwards, which was nice to see. He also won a key faceoff and blocked a shot in the dying seconds of Game 4.

Zach Hyman had seven goals and eight points in the series. His hard nosed, straight ahead game deserves a lot of praise.

Evan Bouchard had nine points in the series, including the game winning goal in Game 4. He also brought it in the defensive end. I’ve long felt that his defensive game doesn’t get enough credit.

Shout Outs

Evander Kane had two goals and an assist in the series, including a Gordie Howe hat trick in Game 3. He also had nineteen shots on goal in the series, including six in Game 1.

I was critical of McLeod’s offensive contributions. McLeod was also outscored 0-2 at five-on-five in the series, and he lost the Corsi battle. However, he got the better of the scoring chances at five-on-five. Defence isn’t always about shot suppression. Shot quality matters. The Kings didn’t generate many high quality chances at five-on-five. The goal share didn’t go McLeod’s way, but the fact that he got the better of the scoring chances shows that he was playing well defensively.

Dylan Holloway’s speed and tenacity were rewarded with two goals in Game 2. He earned himself a bump up to the third line in Game 5. Holloway is finally proving that he belongs on the NHL roster full-time.

Wrap

Game 4 was the most mature performance that the McDavid era Oilers have had to date. The Kings carried the play for most of the night, but they managed to hold down the fort and keep the scoring chances pretty even. The focus was truly defence first, and they were rewarded with a shutout win.

They brought that maturity back for the third period of Game 5. McDavid was consistently choosing to dump the puck in and change rather than trying to dash through the Kings defence. They didn’t necessarily sit back and defend all period long, but they made the safe play and stayed on the defensive side of the puck while defending a lead. They played a smart and responsible game to close out the Kings.

The Oilers have proven that they can win tightly contested defensive battles along with their typical track meets. That’s a scary proposition for opposing teams.

Now we wait to find out who the Oilers will face in the second round. They will play the winner of the series between the Vancouver Canucks and the Nashville Predators, which the Canucks lead 3-2. Game six of that series goes Friday night in Nashville.

Related: Oilers vs Kings: Series Preview