BLOG: Oilers preaching persistence and patience

LOS ANGELES, CA - Three games, four even-strength goals.
For a team that led the NHL in overall scoring with 325 goals and ranked fifth in five-on-five markers with 192, it's been a frusrating series offensively so far for the Oilers against the Los Angeles Kings.
Despite outshooting their Pacific Division rivals 98-63 and having an 8.8-to-5.7 expected-goals ratio during five-on-five play in the series, the Oilers find themselves trailing the best-of-seven battle 2-1, with Game 4 on the schedule for Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
During Saturday's media availability, the players and Head Coach Jay Woodcroft preached persistence and patience that their offensive efforts will soon pay dividends.
"I think you can be patient, and we're a patient group," Woodcroft said. "I think if you looked at the scoring chances, it's not close. Can we bear down in certain situations? Yeah, we can.
"Keep hammering away at the rock, and we know it'll split eventually... We think if we continue to stack good things on top of good things over the long haul, which is what we're prepared for, the right team comes out on top."

Zach Hyman has recorded one assist through three games vs. the Kings, fresh off a career-best regular season that saw him score 36 goals and 83 points in 79 appearances.
"LA is a really good defensive team, obviously, and you just have to keep going out there and doing it over and over again," Hyman said of the team sticking with their game plan.
"You've just got to keep going and if you keep getting your looks, that's the key, right? If you're not getting any looks, then you've got to change things up. But we're getting our looks. You've just got to bear down on them."

The Oilers have led for 107 minutes and 26 seconds of the 192 minutes and 43 seconds the teams have played through three games, while the Kings have been in front for just eight minutes and 15 seconds. On paper, Edmonton has been the better team. It's time to see those in-game numbers translate to the scoreboard and win column.
"We're happy with our five-on-five game, so that means we're doing something well," Mattias Ekholm said. "It's just about executing that last little bit. Did I think we have had some really good looks last night? Yes, I think we had some really good Grade A chances to put it away, we just haven't been able to find it.
"But that's going to happen. It's been three games, it's a best-out-of-seven. We still have a lot of time here and a lot of hockey to be played, so I think the way we are playing is encouraging, but obviously we want to be a little bit more dangerous when it comes to that finishing touch."
"You've got to give yourself the most amount of chances to put the puck in the back of the net," Darnell Nurse added. "And that's why I say you can't get frustrated. because our game right now is giving us a lot of opportunities to try to find the back of the net... If you get frustrated, try to deviate away from the game plan, you open up other areas of your game... Hopefully that damn will break."