Oilers ride resilience, balanced scoring into Western 2nd Round

LOS ANGELES --As they expected, the Edmonton Oilers were pushed by the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference First Round.

But Edmonton advanced with a 5-4 win in Game 6 at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday and will face the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Vegas eliminated the Winnipeg Jets in five games.
"What I liked about our team in this series is that we were willing to adapt," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said Sunday. "The other team threw certain things at as, and we weren't stubborn. We weren't stuck in one way of doing things. We adapted to what the environment called for, and we did what we had to do to come out of that series and beat a very good L.A. Kings team."
Kailer Yamamoto scored his first goal of the series with 3:03 left in the third period of Game 6. His goal came after Phillip Danault tied the game 4-4 while short-handed at 7:46 of the third after goalie Stuart Skinner broke his stick while attempting a pass in front of his net. Danault took the gift and scored into an empty net.
The Oilers recovered, though, and pulled out the victory.
"For me, I think that's the sign of resiliency and that's a word we use a lot around our team," Woodcroft said. "We were 20 seconds away from winning Game 1 (4-3 overtime loss), a game that I thought we were quite comfortable in and looked good in that game and we found a way to not win it. I liked the way we responded in Game 2 (4-2 win). We came down in Game 3 (3-2 OT loss) and battled through some adversity there, responded in Game 4 (5-4 OT win) when we were down 3-0 and we didn't let a bad break of the stick effect our mindset yesterday."

Edmonton won the final three games of the series after falling behind 2-1. The Game 4 victory was the turning point of the series, rallying from three goals down in the first period, and Woodcroft was happy the Oilers were able to close it out Saturday.
"I think in the playoffs, each game that you play takes a mental, emotional and physical toll and the shorter you can keep series, the less of a tax or toll you're putting on your team," Woodcroft said. "That was an elimination game for us, and I liked the fact we had a killer instinct. I liked the way we came out in the first period. We were there to win. It wasn't a perfect game. There were things we could clean up, but I liked our team's mindset. We went in there with a thought process of choking a team out and that's what we did last night."
Leon Draisaitl led the Oilers with 11 points (seven goals, four assists). Connor McDavid (three goals, seven assists) and defenseman Evan Bouchard (two goals, eight assists) each had 10.

Klim Kostin scored two goals in Game 6 and finished the series with four points (three goals, one assist). Evander Kane also had three goals and an assist. The only Edmonton skater without a point was Philip Broberg, the seventh defenseman.
"A lot of people look at the Oilers and think it's a two or three-man team and it's not that at all," McDavid said Saturday. "Up and down the lineup, we have contributions. Both goalies stepped up huge in the series. We had seven D-men play and had a bunch of different forwards stepping up at crucial times. That's what playoff hockey is all about and it's a good sign for our group."
The focus now shifts to the second round, where Edmonton will play Vegas for the first time. The Oilers stayed in Los Angeles to prepare for the Golden Knights instead of returning home. They were 3-0-1 against them in the regular season and finished three points behind them for first in the Pacific Division.
"I think there's a big difference, different styles, different challenges, different problems that they present, and they seem to be firing on all cylinders," Woodcroft said. "It's going to be a tall task, but we're up for it. I think they have a back end that seems to be involved in all three zones. They seem to have a deep forward group that plays a pressure-based game. They're well-coached and they finished at the top of the conference for a reason."