Oilers looking to have better start in must-win Game 6 against Kings

EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers haven't had a single good start to a game in the Western Conference First Round against the Los Angeles Kings and now they're out of room for error.

The Oilers started slowly again in Game 5 at Rogers Place on Tuesday. They allowed the first goal and trailed 3-1 and 4-2 before losing 5-4 in overtime.
The Kings lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 and could eliminate the Oilers with a win in Game 6 at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; TBS, CBC, SN, TVAS, BSW).
"Obviously starts have not been very good to us," Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. "And we obviously have to be better. I mean, I think they're doing a good job of getting pucks to the net early in games … And obviously, we have to find a way to do the same thing."
RELATED: [Complete Oilers vs. Kings series coverage]
Edmonton has been outscored 5-3 in the first periods of this series. The way to improve on that will be by skating better, said forward Leon Draisaitl, whose two third-period goals -- one shorthanded and the other on the power play -- helped the Oilers tie Game 5 and send it to overtime.
"The answer lies in the room," he said. "We've got to come out a little harder. We've got to come out with our skating legs underneath us. We haven't had that the last couple of games really, not any games really in the series. So, we're looking to do that in two days."
McDavid had a three-point game (one goal, two assists) and has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in the series, but still thinks the Oilers haven't played their best game against the Kings.
"They're a good team, they're structured, they play hard," he said. "They do a lot of a lot of good things out there. So, it'll take a complete game to beat them. And we haven't brought that yet."
Now in a position to be eliminated with one more loss, Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said there will be an examination of many of Edmonton's shortcomings in advance of and during a team meeting Wednesday.

That meeting will certainly focus on how the Oilers have been sluggish early in games. In Game 5, the Kings outshot them 16-5 in the first period.
"We didn't have enough people (going) early and as the game wore on, we started to find more players and made a game of it," Woodcroft said. "But essentially we chased the game from the opening puck drop. [We] did a good job coming back but in the end it was too big a hill to climb."
Another issue the Oilers are likely to address before Game 6 is their defensive play.
"We knew that this was the game that they were going to play," McDavid said. "They play a structured … they play a 1-3-1. We know that. We found ways to produce offense. And we scored four tonight. That needs to be enough in a playoff game. Obviously, it's not. We've got to keep the puck out of our net."
The sum of the past two games, including the Kings' 4-0 win in Game 4, is 9-4 in their favor. Edmonton was outscored 4-1 while at 5-on-5 in Game 5 and has been outscored 7-1 at 5-on-5 in the past two games.
The Oilers will also have to play Game 6 without top-pair defenseman Darnell Nurse, who was suspended one game Wednesday by the NHL Department of Player Safety for head-butting Kings forward Phillip Danault in Game 5.
"We scored four tonight," Woodcroft said. "That should be enough to win a game. You're asking if we can tighten some things up? Yeah, there's some things we can tighten up. I thought we turned over some pucks that ended up coming back the other way. We were slow in D zone coverage when normally we're fast and physical. In the last two games, there's certainly some things we can tighten up."
The Oilers have scored 21 goals to the Kings' 14 but trail in the series. Even more shocking was the finish to Game 5, because Edmonton appeared to have the momentum heading to overtime Tuesday.
Yes, they started poorly. Yes, there were lapses in their defensive game. But the way they rallied to tie the game in the third period, with McDavid and Draisaitl playing on the same line and dominating play, especially in the second half of the period, their push looked like it could be too much for the Kings to handle.
And then they barely touched the puck in overtime before Adrian Kempe scored at 1:12.
"We had we had the momentum going in," Draisaitl said. "[Now] we have no choice, right? We've got to go to L.A. and win one game and bring it back here and that's what we're focused on. We'll flush this one. We know that we can be a lot better. So, just move on and make sure we're ready for the next one."