PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers at Kings (Game 6)

The Edmonton Oilers play do-or-die hockey in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series against the Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday night.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet or CBC or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Video: OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game 6 at LAK 05.12.22

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs. LAK
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
PRE-GAME RAW | Connor McDavid\
PRE-GAME RAW | Brett Kulak\
RECENT VIDEOS
HOTEL: Cody Ceci\
HOTEL: Coach Jay Woodcroft
HOTEL: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins\
Oilers Today: Post-Game 5 vs LAK
BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Kings Statistics
COMING SOON: Stats Comparison
COMING SOON: Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
BLOG: Wednesday's Travel
BLOG: Esprits de corps
BLOG: Feel the Kane
VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Thursday's game on Sportsnet or CBC at 8:00 PM MT.
News and notes from Oilers travel day on Wednesday.
**>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG**
LOS ANGELES, CA - It's all business with their backs against the wall.
Game 6 at Crypto.com Arena will be do-or-die hockey for the Edmonton Oilers, who trail 3-2 in their first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings and need a victory tonight to force a Game 7 back in Oil Country at Rogers Place on Saturday.
The confident pulse of the Oilers locker room beat through morning skate on Thursday afternoon, with players going through their own individual checklists with a business-like attitude for the task at hand of staving off elimination on the road to extend their season.
"A little calm before the storm," defenceman Brett Kulak said. "Guys are going through their routines, their preparations, and doing what they need to do. There's no extra joking around or too much of that. It's crunch time and everyone's dialled in."
"We're ready to go. We know the job that needs to get done and it's a do-or-die situation now. You can get a lot of adrenaline going and a lot of power going from being in that situation, so that's what I feel in the room amongst the guys. Everyone seems very focused."
Head Coach Jay Woodcroft observed his lineup's determination to get the job done in the body language they expressed throughout their trip to California, including on the ice at this morning's pre-game skate.
"Where we're at right now with our guys, I watched them walk into the rink today and saw them practice out there. Their shoulders are back and their heads are up. We're a confident group," he said. "We know that the challenge before us is complex, but we're up to the task. We have a genuine faith in our team and our players."
Video: PRE-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 05.12.22
As a team, communicated in his pre-game avail through their leader on and off the ice in captain Connor McDavid, the elimination scenario invokes an approach of playing for their playoff lives with an all-or-nothing effort while believing in their systems and ability to elevate their efforts.
"I think there are teams that go about it differently, and obviously for us, we need to up our work and up our desperation levels," McDavid said. "There's no reason for that not to show up tonight."
"I think we have to go about our business. We certainly know what we're doing. We've had success in this building winning three of four throughout the year, so we're comfortable playing in this building and need a big one tonight."
Teams earn the right to be confident over the course of the regular season, and Woodcroft has been first-hand to the Oilers establishing that belief during his tenure behind the Edmonton bench. To the bench boss, in a building where the onus will be on the Kings to end Edmonton's season, it needs to show in a full-team effort right from the opening faceoff.
"The coaching staff is quite confident in our group," he said. "For me, when we walk into this building tonight, we understand where the pressure lies and the pressure is quite clearly on the home team to close us out on home ice.
"Our thought process isn't on the other team right now -- it's on making sure that we have 20 players pulling on the same rope and ready to play for a full 60 minutes right from the opening puck drop."
A DANGEROUS DUO
What the Dynamic Duo did in the third period of Game 5 to help force overtime was sensational.
On Thursday, they'll have the opportunity to do it over a full playoff game in a do-or-die scenario.
Woodcroft reunited McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the top line at this morning's pre-game skate as he prepares to lead the forward line with the two players who've split winning the Hart Memorial Trophy over the last two seasons as League MVP, with McDavid back in the running for the award this season after being nominated earlier in the day.
"I thought it was what we went to in the third period of last game. I thought they controlled the game and were a big reason we could push it to overtime there," Woodcroft said. "I've seen firsthand, especially early in their career, the type of magic they can create, so we're looking to carry that over here to Game 6."
Video: PRE-RAW | Connor McDavid 05.12.22
There's plenty of familiarity between the two who've been linemates for large chunks of their careers in Oilers colours, while their confidence in commanding the Oilers to victory is fresh having helped orchestrate Edmonton's comeback in Game 5 with three points apiece.
"It's a line that I've played with a fair amount over the years and we've had some success, so obviously looking for that tonight," McDavid said. "We generated some chances at the end of the game there and hope to do the same early in the game today."
Not to be forgotten on the line is another important piece in Kailer Yamamoto, who's stepped up his game in the post-season and has drawn plenty of praise as a linemate from both halves of the Dynamic Duo.
"He just works so hard," McDavid said. "I've said so many times that he keeps pucks alive and wins battles. He does a lot of good things."
KUL UNDER PRESSURE
Brett Kulak has been here before, and recently.
Down 3-1 in the first round of the 2021 Playoffs as a member of the Montreal Canadiens, the Habs stormed back to win the series and use it as a rallying point to make it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.
It's those moments to the Stony Plain, AB product that make you more comfortable the next time you face this sort of adversity, and it's benefitting the defender today.
"You think of those moments and it makes you feel good," he said. "You don't feel any quit in the room and yourself personally. You come and put your work boots on making sure you're sharp and ready to go."
With the one-game suspension to defenceman Darnell Nurse on Wednesday, the 28-year-old will be called upon to help fill the void on the top pairing with Cody Ceci. There's precedent in the pair being able to do the required work from late in the regular season when Nurse was kept out of the lineup due to injury.
"The last couple games of the regular season, Ceci and I got to play together, so I think that was good for when a situation like this arises," Kulak said. "We're comfortable and just a little bit of experience together goes a long way, so I'm ready to go."
Playing in Nurse's regular spot, however, won't mean he'll attempt to be a direct replacement for the Hamilton, Ont. product. His own skillset speaks for itself and has its own benefits, while also naturally being able to fill a lot of those minutes and responsibilities.
Video: PRE-RAW | Brett Kulak 05.12.22
"I'm not going into it thinking I'm trying to replace Nursey. He brings a lot to the table for the team and does a lot of things at a high level, but I think for me it's going in with the right mindset of using my tools that make me successful," he said. "I'm going to get more of a role out there and be on the ice a lot more playing against different players that I haven't seen a lot of this series, so those are little things that I make myself aware of."
Kulak has become a pivotal presence for the Oilers since his acquisition at the Trade Deadline by fitting seamlessly on the club's back end and quickly earning the confidence of his teammates in his ability to operate in the systems they deploy.
"Since we've acquired Brett, I've been nothing but impressed with his personality," Woodcroft said. "As a person, he comes to the rink every day, he's got a smile on his face, and he's assimilated nicely into our group."
"We've had experience with Darnell not being in the lineup and Kulak being part of our team, and he and Ceci formed a good pair at that point and that's our starting point here tonight. I think he's had a really good series and I look forward to him continuing that tonight."
To Kulak, his pairing with Ceci can play a simple game that can bring out the best offensively in both themselves and the forwards in front of them.
"I think the strength of our game is we keep it simple. At this time of the year, simplicity is key and it leads to big plays," he said. "It's those six-foot passes or winning the extra battle. Just positionally, I think we stay sound and support each other really well. That's what allowed us to have success in the last couple of games we played together and we're looking to pick back up on that."
LINEUP NOTES
Beneath a loaded top line including the Dynamic Duo and Yamamoto, Edmonton's second line is expected to be deployed with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins between Ryan McLeod and Zach Hyman.
Coach Woodcroft lauded the three players' individual abilities and spoke to their potential on coming out ahead against one of LA's two top lines spearheaded by two dynamic centres.
"Three good hockey players that have all had really good moments in the series," Woodcroft said. "We think that they'll be able to take one of Phillip Danault or Anze Kopitar however the other team wants to play them, and we look forward to them playing to their capabilities tonight here in Game 6."
The loss of Nurse on defence to suspension is expected to award the opportunity for Kris Russell to return to the lineup and play beside Tyson Barrie in a win-or-go-home scenario. Defenceman Phillip Broberg was recalled from the Bakersfield Condors last night as an insurance option for the Oilers on the back end, while Mike Smith was once again in the starter's crease.
>> VIEW THE OILERS GAME 6 PROJECTED LINEUP
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com
OILERS at KINGS
STREAM: 8:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet or CBC
Oilers Team Scope
The Oilers will have everything on the line in Game 6 on Thursday night when they look to even up their first-round series with the Kings.
Los Angeles pushed the Oilers to the brink with their 5-4 overtime win on Tuesday at Rogers Place. The Oilers suffered from the same slow start that has seemed to plague them throughout the series. The Kings jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard due to a Troy Stecher point shot and 16-5 lead on the shot counter in the opening frame.
It's a result the Oilers can't afford on the road in Los Angeles on Thursday, especially while down 3-2 in the series.
"The answer lies in our room. We have to come out a little harder. We have to come out with our skating legs underneath us," Leon Draisaitl said after the game. "We haven't had that the last couple games, not any games really in this series. We're looking to do that in two days."
Zack Kassian looked to have stolen back momentum for Edmonton in the second with his first goal of the playoffs. Connor McDavid showed great patience to take the puck around the net and backhanded the easy pass for the tenacious Oilers forward to deposit past Quick for the tying goal.
After the Oilers fell behind 3-1 when the Kings scored two second-period goals in quick succession, Head Coach Jay Woodcroft brought out the 'nuclear option' deploying McDavid and Draisaitl together for much of the remainder of the game.
The strategy, although borne out of desperation, was a successful one. The Oilers captain scored the next goal three seconds into an Oilers powerplay and Draisaitl scored the next two Oilers goals with McDavid playing a large part in both of them.
The duo would combine for three goals and three assists on the evening as the Oilers overcame their poor start to drag the game into overtime. It would all be for not, when Kings winger Adrian Kempe made a power move in front of Mike Smith to tuck the game-winner behind the Oilers goaltender just 1:12 into the extra period to leave Edmonton with the series advantage.
"We had the momentum going in, obviously the break didn't come at a time in our favour, but that's the way the game works," Draisaitl said afterward. "We have to go to LA and win a game and make sure we bring it back here."
Kings Team Scope
After back-to-back six-goal defeats, things couldn't have gone much better for the Kings. Los Angeles was able to rebound at Crypto.com Arena with a 4-0 shutout on Sunday night, and then follow it up in the Oilers building with Tuesday's 5-4 overtime victory.
The Kings showed an ability to get under the Oilers skin throughout the game, with both teams taking coincidental penalties in the game, but the Oilers taking the extra in both circumstances, gifting Los Angeles a powerplay. In one of the more egregious moments, Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse was served with a one-game suspension following a moment of physical indiscretion on the Kings Phillip Danault.
The Kings saw goals from former Oiler Andreas Athanasiou, Troy Stecher, Phillip Danault, and a pair by regular-season 35-goal scorer Adrian Kempe in the overtime win.
On the defensive side, the Kings have done a good job at slowing the Oilers dynamic skill with their 1-3-1 defensive shell, making it tough for a Blue & Orange squad that features high-end options on offence.
"During the series, we've had good moments and then moments where we've played into their hands," Woodcroft said. "I think the whole design of the 1-3-1 is to impede speed. When we've executed the way we wanted to, we've had a fair share of that zone time. When we've been stubborn or turned some pucks over, it ended up coming back the other way."
When the Oilers have broken through the Kings shell, goaltender Jonathan Quick has been able to hold the fort. Since being pulled in Game 3, the 35-year-old has allowed four goals on 58 shots and has made several key saves in limiting Oilers comebacks.
By The Numbers
In games where McDavid and Draisaitl registered at least three points each, the Oilers are 26-3 with all three losses coming in the post-season… Edmonton has won five consecutive Game 6'… the Oilers are 13-8 all-time in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs… Edmonton has lost four consecutive playoff games when McDavid scores a playoff goal… The Oiler captain has recorded 28 points in his last 14 games against Los Angeles (9 goals, 10 assists)… Evander Kane has the most penalties-in-minutes in the playoffs since 2017-18 with 100 in 34 games…
Jonathan Quick tied Glenn Hall for 23rd all-time in playoff wins with his 49th victory on Tuesday… Thursday's Game 6 would be Quick's 91st consecutive playoff start for the Kings… Quick set the record for most playoff shutouts by an American-born goaltender with 10… Los Angeles hasn't advanced past the first round since 2013-14… Phillip Danault has the second highest shooting percentage in the playoffs with three goals in nine shots (33.3 per cent)…
Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR; Kyle Turris (back) is on IR.
KINGS - Drew Doughty (wrist) is on IR; Sean Walker (torn ACL/MCL) is on IR; Viktor Arvidsson (undisclosed) is day-to-day.
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com