The Edmonton Oilers were hurt by a potential missed call on Friday. But Adam Proteau says the best teams can pull off a series victory in spite of officiating.
Trevor Moore scored the overtime-winner on Friday to give the Los Angeles Kings a 2-1 series lead.The Edmonton Oilers may have been hurt by a (debatably) missed call that led to the Los Angeles Kings’ overtime-winning goal in Game 3 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series Friday night, but any veteran hockey observer knows teams that have eventually won a Cup overcome blown calls and win in spite of them.
That’s something that can’t be said of an Oilers team that, once again, got out-defended by the Kings and lost 3-2. For that reason, L.A. now is ahead 2-1 in the series and has the opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 series lead with a victory on Sunday.
Once again, the Kings bent but did not break in the face of Oilers puck pressure. In Game 3, Edmonton superstar Connor McDavid scored both of his team’s goals, but Los Angeles managed to shut down the Oilers’ other threats on offense and squeezed out just enough offensive power of their own to hang on to home ice advantage.
In the three games so far, Edmonton has generated nine goals, but the Oilers have also surrendered nine to the Kings. Edmonton has the two best offensive threats of the series in McDavid and fellow star Leon Draisaitl. The latter leads all NHL talents in these playoffs, with six points in three games – but the Kings have spread out their offense, with nine players who have at least two points.
Just as importantly, L.A. has benefitted from the strong play of trade deadline acquisitions Joonas Korpisalo and Vladislav Gavrikov. The former has generated a stellar .931 save percentage and 2.53 goals-against average, and the latter has averaged 20:47 of ice time while registering a plus-2. Kings GM Rob Blake approached the trade deadline knowing full well it was L.A.’s defense that needed the most help, and he went out and acquired two players who addressed that need.
The Oilers, on the other hand, landed former Predators D-man Mattias Ekholm to bolster their blueline. But in two of the three games the Kings and Edmonton have played, the Oilers have not been able to make the most of overtime, losing twice to give L.A. the series lead.
Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner isn’t the reason the Oilers now trail in the series, but he also hasn’t stolen any games, with a pedestrian .900 SP and 2.80 GAA. And there’s no chance Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft is going to turn to No. 2 netminder Jack Campbell, which means it’s on the Oilers as a defensive unit to pull Edmonton even in the series.
It’s true the Oilers need more offense from their secondary scorers – after McDavid and Draisaitl, only three other Edmonton players have two points or more – but the Kings are in the position they’re in because they’ve been a smarter, more resilient squad, and coach Todd McLellan has kept L.A. from panicking when they’ve fallen behind.
The way the Oilers ended the regular season, there weren’t many people picking the Kings to beat them in Round 1, but don’t kid yourself – Los Angeles has shown themselves to be a well-balanced group with some vital playoff experience that’s helped them through these three games. The Kings nearly knocked Edmonton off in the 2022 post-season before falling in seven games, but this time around, L.A. looks more poised, more prepared and more capable of finishing the job.
The Oilers can blame their predicament on the officials all they want, but the reality is the Kings have been the better team in two of the three games that have been played. If they’re to turn things around, Edmonton needs a more sustained defensive approach, and they need it to happen right away.