LOS ANGELES — There was an obvious separator between the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings in a pivotal Game 4.
Perhaps appropriately, it was the same thing that has been the biggest differentiator between the two teams not only in this series, but for the past couple they’ve played as well.
Each team was afforded a single power play on Sunday night. Evan Bouchard blasted home a pass from Leon Draisaitl to give the Oilers the lead in the second period. The Kings got theirs in the third to try to tie the game. They mustered little and had just one shot on net.
Bouch puts us on the board 🎯 pic.twitter.com/t6DH29Vi1K
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) April 29, 2024
“It’s such a fine line between winning and losing that it usually comes down to a special team goal,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Fortunately, so far, we’ve done well in that aspect.”
To suggest the Oilers have done well is the understatement of all understatements.
They’ve absolutely dominated the special teams battle. It hasn’t even been close.
Game 4 was the Kings’ best five-on-five effort of the series. They outshot the Oilers in that scenario 32-12. However, the Oilers did a good job of limiting the damage. Knoblauch counted zero rush opportunities against, and no Grade A chances for the Kings.
The Oilers generated even less offensively.
The five-on-five play through four games has been close. The Oilers have a slight edge in high-danger chances — 45-42 per Natural Stat Trick — but the Kings have outscored them 10-9.
Special teams couldn’t be more important.
After being on the right side of both opportunities on Sunday, the Oilers are now 8-for-15 on the power play and have killed off all 11 short-handed chances. If you’re looking for one reason why they’re leading series 3-1, this is it.
“You guys see how tight it is at five-on-five. They’re a really, really good team. They don’t give you much, especially in this building,” said winger Zach Hyman, who has three of his six goals in the series with the man advantage. “It’s hard to create offence against this team.
“If you draw penalties, if you’re able to capitalize, that’s the advantage you can get. Obviously, we have a really good power play, but we’ve had that for a while. The PK — what a step it’s taken.”
Knoblauch shifts the credit for the special teams’ success to the assistant coaches running the two groups — Glen Gulutzan for the power play and Mark Stuart for the penalty kill.
As Hyman hints, the power-play effectiveness comes as no surprise.
This is Gulutzan’s sixth season running the power play for the Oilers. He took over a unit that finished last in 2017-18. Since then, they’ve come in the top 10 every season. Included in that run are three first-place finishes, notably when they had the most prolific power play in NHL history last season at 32.4 percent. In 2023-24, they were fourth in the NHL at 26.3 percent.
Upon taking over, Gulutzan made a concerted choice to have the puck flow through Draisaitl, Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins rather than having the defenceman quarterback things. Getting the puck on the sticks of their most skilled players didn’t seem like rocket science, but that changed everything.
The Oilers’ stars have preyed on the Kings. Throw in Hyman in front of the net and the addition of Bouchard’s bomb from the top as an option in the last two series and the Oilers have been nearly unstoppable.
They went 3-for-4 in Game 1. Afterward, McDavid said, “We’ve got a few things up our sleeve still.” He was sure right about that. The Oilers have now scored on 24 of 50 power plays against the Kings over the last three years.
“Why do I think it’s been good? I think our unit’s good against a lot of teams,” McDavid said. “The L.A. Kings would be no different. Our unit knows what it’s doing out there.
“We’ve been together for a long time. We have PKs throw a lot of different things at us and we’ve found different ways to adjust. We’ve continued to do that in every series we’ve played in.”
No one should expect this type of efficiency, but something not too far off would be realistic considering the Oilers’ track record.
It’s the penalty kill that’s grown by leaps and bounces.
Stuart, a holdover from the previous coaching staff, assumed the PK responsibilities after Dave Manson was fired along with bench boss Jay Woodcroft on Nov. 12. He limited minutes to fewer forwards and sought a more aggressive approach. There were early dividends.
The Oilers killed off 20 straight penalties in November, a vast improvement considering they were third last at the time of the coaching change. They had some down periods thereafter and finished 15th in the NHL at 79.5 percent.
But Knoblauch said Stuart has zeroed in on how to get the better of the Kings’ power play. Stalwart penalty killer Vincent Desharnais agrees.
“We’re prepared,” the hulking defenceman said. “We’re structured and we play on our instincts, too. We’re not robots. Sometimes stuff is going to happen, and you just have to be able to react to it.”
Added Adam Henrique, a regular PKer since being acquired from Anaheim before the trade deadline: “We have a good mindset going into the kills.”
On defence, Desharnais, Mattias Ekholm, Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci get the brunt of the duties. Up front, Nugent-Hopkins, Henrique, Mattias Janmark, Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod are fixtures. The sixth forward — to make three pairs — comes down to who’s playing between righties Sam Carrick and Derek Ryan. Connor Brown, who hasn’t dressed in this series, is another option.
Ryan drew in for his first duty in Game 4 as Carrick was scratched.
“It was tough initially. It was pretty obvious going down the stretch of the season what it was going to look like for Game 1,” he said. “I had to get over that selfish mentality. That’s human nature. That lasted for maybe 12 hours. Then I realized this team is going to need me at some point. That’s what I kept telling myself. I truly believe that. I took it upon myself to always be ready.”
Ryan got a shift the only time the Oilers were short-handed in Game 4.
“I’ve been part of the PK for a long time,” he said. “I know the routes. I know everything that I need to do. There’s pressure no matter what situation you’re going out in the playoffs. ‘Pressure is a privilege’ is what I like to tell myself.”
The Oilers have had some huge kills in the series. Just taking into account the games in Los Angeles, they turned away the Kings twice in the first period of Game 3. That allowed the Oilers offence to take over. They had one job to do in Game 4 and executed it flawlessly.
The PK is usually a task that gets little notice, but one that’s a huge source of pride for those doing the grunt work.
“I don’t play hockey for people to tell me how good I am or how pretty I look,” Desharnais said, smiling. “The guys know in here and that’s all that really matters.
“I love killing. It’s part of my game. It’s my bread and butter. When the kill goes well, I’m very happy with it. We can’t be too complacent because it can go on the other side real quick. We’ve got to stay on our toes and be ready.”
So far, so good for the Oilers on both the penalty kill and power play.
Those facets are primarily why they are where they are — with a chance to finish off the Kings on Wednesday.
“The PK’s been great. We get a huge kill there in the third. All series long they’ve been really big, stepping up in big moments,” McDavid said. “The power play’s been doing its thing. We’re a good unit and we’ve found ways to contribute.”
(Photo: Codie McLachlan / Getty Images)
