Oilers hoping special teams carry them again in 2nd round

EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers are hoping their play on special teams carries over to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Edmonton was 9-for-20 on the power play (45 percent) and killed off all 12 short-handed situations, winning its best-of-7 Western Conference First Round series against the Los Angeles Kings in five games. In the second round, the Oilers will face the Vancouver Canucks, who eliminated the Nashville Predators with a 1-0 win in Game 6 on Friday.

"The way our penalty kill is designed, forwards are skating lots and D-men have good sticks and are blocking shots and obviously 'Stu' [Stuart Skinner] is making the big saves when we need them, and everybody was on the same page and did that to their best abilities," Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said Friday before his team's second-round opponent was determined. "We were putting lots of pressure on them, not letting them be comfortable, not letting them make their nice plays that we know they can make, and I think as a power-play unit it's frustrating when you're constantly getting pressured."

During the regular season, the Oilers had the 15th-ranked penalty kill in the NHL at 79.5 percent.

In the opening round against the Kings, the Oilers killed two power plays in a 7-4 win in Game 1, three in a 5-4 overtime loss in Game 2, and five in a 6-1 win in Game 3.

Edmonton then killed one power play in each a 1-0 win in Game 4 and 4-3 win in Game 5.

"The biggest (kill) was when there were a few minutes left in Game 4 and we were just excited to get out there," Nugent-Hopkins said. "It was the only kill of the game and [the Kings'] crowd was going nuts and it was an amazing atmosphere, but we were thinking we just needed to get it done and it was fun. We definitely should be proud of how we killed and take a lot of the good things out of it, but at the same time, whoever is next, it's a new challenge and nothing is given, so we have to continue to be at that level."

The Oilers practiced Friday for the first time since clinching the series against the Kings on Wednesday. 

"With our PK, there was a level of instinct to it, closing time and space quickly, we weren't sitting back and letting L.A. pick their plays and getting set and doing the things they wanted to exploit in their pre-scout on our PK," defenseman Darnell Nurse said. "I think it was very natural; guys were getting to loose pucks, they were blocking off lanes, I think there was a pretty good cohesion with the group. Guys are getting used to playing with each other and seeing and feeling where each other was going to be on the ice. I think that played a big role in that series."

Edmonton rotated three sets forwards on the penalty kill, keeping them fresh, and utilized Nurse, Mattias Ekholm, Cody Ceci and Vincent Desharnais on defense. Skinner was also solid, stopping all 16 shots he faced on the penalty kill.

"One of the strengths of our team is our speed and using that within the PK to be able to close and shut down time and space, that's probably one of the biggest elements of it," Nurse said. "And there's a level of commitment, too, with the shot-blocking and a lot of it goes with the pride of wanting to keep the puck out of your net. That's pleasing to the defensive side of the game that we've been talking about for so long."

Conversely, the Oilers power play had plenty of time to move the puck in the zone against a passive Kings' penalty kill. Along with its nine power-play goals, in Game 5 Edmonton scored two as penalties to Los Angeles forward Pierre-Luc Dubois and defenseman Drew Doughty had just expired.

Special teams were the difference in the series as each team scored 12 goals 5-on-5.

"As much preparation as we put into it, it's up to the players to go in and execute," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. "On the power play, they were able to slow things down make the right play and not rush things. Then on the other side, on the penalty kill, [the Kings] were rushing things, because we were very assertive and jumping on loose pucks, which really limited L.A.'s opportunities to set things up."

On the power play, having two of the best offensive players in the NHL, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl helps, but the Oilers became an even bigger threat on the man-advantage when defenseman Evan Bouchard took over at the point midway through last season.

Bouchard had 82 points (18 goals, 64 assists) in 81 games in the regular season, 35 (eight goals, 27 assists) which came on the power play. His hard and accurate shot from the point added another element to an already potent unit.

"Although he hit me a couple of times the other night, I had to pay the price there, his ability to hammer that thing and have a chance to score every time from back there, as a PK, that's something you have to be thinking of, you have to cognizant of," Nugent-Hopkins said. "They can't back off, and then we can work them low, it's great to have that threat up top. And he's so accurate and it doesn't need to be a bomb, he's got that snap shot too that has a chance and we can get something creative off of it."