PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers vs. Kings (Game 5)

The Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings will contest Game 5 at Rogers Place on Tuesday night with their first-round series tied at two.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet & CBC or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Video: OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game 5 vs LAK 05.10.22

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RAW | Coach Woodcroft 05.09.22
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VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Tuesday's game on Sportsnet & CBC at 8:00 PM MT.
News and notes from inside the Oilers organization, including the club hitting the reset button ahead of Game 5 following their shutout by the Kings on Sunday night in Game 4 at Crypto.com Arena.
**>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG**
EDMONTON, AB - The best-of-three series begins tonight at Rogers Place.
Edmonton returns home for Game 5 after splitting the first four games of their Stanley Cup Playoff series with Los Angeles. The Oilers are hoping to channel the Rogers Place crowd's energy into a strong opening period on Tuesday night.
"We realize the situation right now, tied 2-2 in the series," Duncan Keith said. "We're back home here in front of our fans and in our building, we're going to try and use that energy to our advantage and have a good start. Our starts are something that can be better, I'd like to do that tonight."
Video: PRE-RAW | Duncan Keith 05.10.22
"Every game is different, and I thought in Game 4 they were the better team all night, McDavid said about the Game 4 defeat. "They worked harder, they were a little bit more desperate, but tonight I think we've got to be the desperate team. We're playing at home, and we've got to be ready to go."
SHUFFLING THE DECK:
Coach Woodcroft has made a few changes to the Oilers lineup that left Game 4 in Los Angeles without a goal.
"When you didn't play the way you wanted to, you shuffle the deck and that's what we did today," Woodcroft said. "This is a good starting point for us and one that I think gives us the best chance to start tonight's game."
The biggest mover is centre Ryan McLeod, who finds himself in the Oilers top six for tonight's game, playing on Leon Draisaitl's wing with Zach Hyman. McLeod was one of the bright spots in the Oilers line-up on Sunday, registering three shots in his 12:45 of ice time.
Kailer Yamamoto will slot into the top line, a role he held for parts of Game 4 when the Oilers were looking for a spark. The diminutive winger was denied a goal by the crossbar in the second period and brought some energy to an Oilers lineup that needed it.
"He makes plays. He's a guy that keeps the puck alive, works hard, gets on the forecheck similar to Jesse, but I like playing with both," Connor McDavid said about his new linemate. "Tonight, I guess Yamo is the guy."
Video: PRE-RAW | Connor McDavid 05.10.22
Derek Ryan will draw back in after missing last game, settling into the fourth line centre role vacated by the elevated McLeod.
"I think Derek Ryan is a Swiss army knife type of hockey player. Him not being in the lineup in Game 4 was noticeable for us," Woodcroft said. "I think he does a lot of things well and if you've paid close attention over the last 2.5 months, while he might not start in the middle, he ends up in the middle."
The last big change is Jesse Puljujarvi's move to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins wing. The Oilers coach is hoping to that Nuge's strong play rubs off on the rest of his line.
"When he was hurt and not in our lineup (during the season) it was noticeable when Nuge wasn't there to anchor the three-hole," Woodcroft said. "He's somebody who makes other people around him better. That line has been a good line for us."
MORE TINKERING:
Outside of the lineups, changes need to be made in the way the Oilers are approaching the Kings. The two teams now have 240 minutes of familiarity with each other in the series, and there is an emphasis on mixing up your habits while staying true to the identity that the team has established under coach Woodcroft.
"As a series evolves, patterns emerge and there are small adjustments that get made on both sides," Woodcroft said. "For us, our emphasis and focus are on us, on the things we can do better."
"When you have a performance like Game 4 and you don't get the result you're looking for, I think you'd expect changes and obviously a few tweaks here and there," McDavid added.
One area of concern for the Oilers is the number of shots the Kings have flung towards the Oilers goal. Although Los Angeles has been operating on a quantity over quantity approach, the numbers are starting to add up with 156 shots (an average of 39 per game) directed Mike Smith's way.
"Preventing them from getting their chances is obviously what we want to focus," McDavid said. "Continuing our hard track not allowing entry into our zone while making it hard on their offensive guys."
RIDE THE WAVE:
The Oilers first-round series against the Kings, and many of the other Stanley Cup Playoff series, have seen titanic swings in momentum. Edmonton turned a 4-3 opening game set back into back-to-back six goal victories, which was then flipped into a 4-0 Game 4 loss on Sunday.
The playoff veterans on the Oilers roster know that momentum can be fickle. There will be times when the flow of the game will or will not be in their favour. The oft mentioned mantra from the coaching staff of staying even keeled is a crucial mindset to be in when the momentum sways one way or the other.
"There is going to be ups and downs, every team (in the playoffs) is good," Keith said. "It's about not getting too high or too low after a loss and going out there focused on what you can control and what you can do out there."
Video: PRE-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 05.10.22
The team has had the last day or so to flush the feelings from their Game 4 setback and focus on the next opportunity presented to them. Coach Woodcroft is expecting his team to respond in the same manner the Los Angeles Kings did on Sunday.
"Any time a team comes off of a loss, their level of urgency goes up because there's only so many games to be played in a playoff series," Woodcroft said. "It's a natural human nature kind of thing."
"You always try to learn from every game whether it's a win or a loss," Keith said. "It's a new game today, it was a new day yesterday; just play your best and be your best and not worry about what happened in the past, good or bad."
>> VIEW THE OILERS GAME 5 PROJECTED LINEUP
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com
OILERS vs. KINGS
STREAM: 8:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet & CBC
Oilers Team Scope
The Oilers had their momentum from a 14-goal offensive output in their previous two games before Sunday checked in Game 4 at Crypto.com Arena, falling 4-0 to the Los Angeles Kings to make it a 2-2 series heading back to Edmonton for Game 5 on Tuesday night.
The Blue & Orange were stymied by an excellent Jonathan Quick, who made 31 saves for the shutout after being pulled in Game 3 after giving up four goals on 17 shots, but there was no answer from the Oilers for the collective push that the Kings brought right from puck drop by finishing checks, winning puck battles and leaving Edmonton limited opportunities off the rush by clogging the neutral zone.
"I just didn't think we skated at the level we needed to skate at," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "I think our battles and stick fights weren't where they needed to be. We're better, we're capable of more, and we're going to digest this game and give our players something as a focal point heading into Game 5."
The overall level needed to respond to LA's adjustments was lacking from the Oilers, and to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, it came down to the Kings wanting to outbattle the Oilers after two straight shellings in Games 3 and 4.
On Tuesday night, the Oilers hope to flip the script of Sunday right back on the Kings.
"I think I'm just going to keep hounding on it -- it's just going to come down to work and you've just got to outwork them," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We're going back home and we're going to need the same push that they had early in the game. We're going to need to do that to them and make sure we push them out of the game early."
Kings Team Scope
The Kings turned the page on two lopsided defeats in Game 2 and 3 with Sunday's dominating performance by playing an imposing and limiting style of hockey on the Oilers, who struggled to find ways to deal with the push from LA that came right from puck drop.
Carl Grundstrom helped lead the charge with two goals and an assist in front of a stellar Quick who made the big saves when it mattered to secure his 10th career playoff shutout.
"Obviously, I think everyone in our room was tired of giving up that many goals so, as a whole, I think we tried to lock it down more," defenceman Mikey Anderson said. "Get back to our identity, being harder to play against, and trying to give up less than we've given up the last couple games."
After being outscored 14-2 in their previous two defeats, the Kings blanked the Oilers in a performance fitting of what they felt their identity was in the regular season.
"I mean, we played the game that got us to the playoffs," Quick said. "We got pucks deep, we forechecked, blocked shots, (got) pucks to the net and rebounds. We play that way, we can be successful."
By The Numbers
When a best-of-seven series is tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 holds an all-time series record in the NHL of 219-58 (.791)... The Kings are 9-4 all-time in best-of-seven series tied 2-2 (7-2 in series that start on the road) while the Oilers are 7-4... The Kings recorded their first post-season shutout on Sunday since Game 3 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals...
The Kings have one win in their last five post-season games on the road, dating back to 2016... Both the Oilers and Kings are 2-0 this post-season when scoring first (0-2 when trailing)... The Kings are 1-for-15 on the powerplay and 9-for-14 on the penalty kill this postseason (6.7 per cent)... The Oilers are 5-for-14 on the power-play, with their 35.7 power-play percentage ranking second-highest in the NHL... The Oilers are averaging 4.25 goals per game this post-season, third-most in the NHL...
Trevor Moore recorded the game-winning goal in Game 4 (his first career post-season GWG)... He had one GWG in 81 GP during the 2021-22 regular season... Carl Grundstrom had two goals and three points in Game 4, just his second career multi-goal game (regular or post-season) and first career game with three-plus points... Connor McDavid failed to record a point in Game 4, snapping his eight-game point streak (dating back to April 20), and snapping his five-game postseason point streak (dating back to May 23, 2021)... Evander Kane is the sixth different Oilers player in the last 35 years to record multiple goals in consecutive games (had two goals in Game 2, and three goals in Game 3)...
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.
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com