EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers have an opportunity to take a 2-0 lead in a Stanley Cup Playoff series for the first time in seven years when they face the Los Angeles Kings in Game 2 of the Western Conference First Round at Rogers Place on Wednesday.
The last time the Oilers won the first two games of a series was in the 2017 Western Conference Second Round against the Anaheim Ducks. They won the first two games of the series on the road, then lost the next two at home. Edmonton eventually lost the series in seven games.
The Oilers won 7-4 in Game 1 on Monday, with forward Zach Hyman scoring a hat trick and captain Connor McDavid getting five assists.
This is the third straight season Edmonton and Los Angeles are meeting in the opening round of the playoffs. The Kings won Game 1 the previous two seasons but lost both series.
Here are 3 keys for Game 2:
1. Special teams
The Oilers were 3-for-4 on the power-play in Game 1. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored with the man-advantage in the second period to make it 4-0 before Leon Draisaitl and Hyman scored less than five minutes apart in the third to go up 6-2 and put the game out of reach.
Los Angeles had the second-best penalty kill in the NHLeague this season at 84.6 percent, while Edmonton had the fourth-best power play (26.3 percent).
“I don’t think you have to be a rocket scientist to know four power plays for that kind of power play is too much,” Kings captain Anze Kopitar said. “So, it’s about getting back to what we do and playing hard.”
Los Angeles was 0-for-2 on the power play in Game 1; it had the 12th-ranked power play during the regular season (22.6 percent).
“In the playoffs, a good penalty kill can swing the momentum in your way as much as a good power play that doesn’t score but creates chances, does,” Kings forward Blake Lizotte said. “For us, the PK has been a focal point against Edmonton because their power play clicks so well. We’re expecting going forward not to give them any freebee looks, not take dumb penalties essentially.”
2. Encore performance
They Oilers feel they played one of their best home games this season in Game 1 and are looking to replicate the effort in Game. 2.
Edmonton outshot Los Angeles 15-7 in the first period of Game 1 and took a 2-0 lead into the intermission. The Oilers extended their lead to 4-0 before the Kings scored two goals to cut the deficit to 4-2 by the end of the second period.
Having been on the losing side of Game 1 against Los Angeles the past two years, Draisaitl said Edmonton expects a more desperate opponent.
“From the beginning of the year, we wanted to come make this a hard place for teams to come in and beat us,” Draisaitl said. “I thought we’ve done a pretty good of that this season and we’re looking to continue that tonight and further into the playoffs.
“They’re going to come out a lot hard, they’re going to check a lot tighter. We know that, we’re aware of that and for us, it’s a matter of finding our game again and then just one-upping their intensity. We know this is going to be a tighter game, a tighter-checking game so we’ll make sure we’re ready for it.”
3. Containing McDavid
On Monday, McDavid become the 14th player in NHL history to have five assists in a playoff game, and first since Geoff Courtnall in 1998.
The Kings used their top two defense pairings as much a possible against McDavid and his line, also consisting of Adam Henrique and Hyman, but did not have much success.
Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller is expected to use the defense pairing of Mikey Anderson and Drew Doughty as much as possible against Edmonton’s top line and have centers Kopitar or Phillip Danault on the ice against McDavid.
“He’s a great player. He’s a hard guy to shut down, but if we do what we have to do, we can limit him,” Hiller said. “We know what he does and what he does well, so understand it and do what we do well to counterbalance it. He makes it hard on you, no question, but we have to our job against him and the others. He’s not just alone on that team as we know.”
Kings projected lineup
Alex Laferriere -- Anze Kopitar -- Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore -- Phillip Danault -- Viktor Arvidsson
Kevin Fiala -- Pierre-Luc Dubios -- Quinton Byfield
Carl Grundstrom -- Blake Lizotte -- Trevor Lewis
Mikey Anderson -- Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov -- Matt Roy
Andreas Englund -- Jordan Spence
Cam Talbot
David Rittich
Scratched: Aaron Dell, Arthur Kaliyev, Jacob Moverare
Injured: None
Oilers projected lineup
Adam Henrique -- Connor McDavid -- Zach Hyman
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Leon Draisaitl -- Warren Foegele
Evander Kane -- Ryan McLeod -- Corey Perry
Dylan Holloway -- Sam Carrick -- Mattias Janmark
Mattias Ekholm -- Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse -- Cody Ceci
Brett Kulak -- Vincent Desharnais
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Connor Brown, Ryan Fanti, Sam Gagner, Derek Ryan, Troy Stecher
Injured: None
Status report
Talbot will get the start after allowing six goals on 44 shots in Game 1. … Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said he will have the same lineup as Monday.
NHL.com independent correspondent Gerry Moddejonge contributed to this report
