After getting steamrolled 6-2 by the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday (April 23), the Edmonton Oilers are trailing 2-0 in their best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoffs first round series. The series opened on Monday (April 21) with Los Angeles winning 6-5 at home.
This is only the second time since 2000 that Edmonton has lost the first two games in the opening round of the NHL postseason. It last happened in 2021, when the Oilers were ultimately swept by the Winnipeg Jets in Round 1.
It can’t be overstated how thoroughly Edmonton has been dominated for the majority of the series thus far. Other than a brief but incredible outburst, in which they outscored Los Angeles 5-1 over a stretch of 19 minutes spanning the second and third periods of Game 1, the Oilers have been outworked, outsmarted, and completely outplayed by the Kings. Here’s a look at why the Oilers find themselves behind two games to none.
Getting Slaughtered on the Penalty Kill
Los Angeles is 5/10 on the power play through the first two games. After going 2/5 with the man advantage in Game 1, the Kings were 3/5 on Wednesday. It goes without saying that this is not a recipe for success, especially when the Oilers haven’t scored a power-play goal yet in the series.
Edmonton’s only had five opportunities with the man advantage, prompting some grumbling about the officiating. But the Oilers have no one to blame but themselves for their frequent trips to the box: from Jake Walman’s excessive roughing of Phillip Danault after the whistle in Game 1 to Adam Henrique’s retaliatory hit on Quinton Byfield in Game 2 (both which led to Kings goals) so many of Edmonton’s penalties have been wholly unnecessary, resulting only from a lack of discipline rather than an occurrence in the course of trying to make a play.
To put it all in context, the Oilers allowed only four power-play goals over the course of 25 games in the entire 2024 postseason when they made a run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That shows not only the importance of penalty-killing in the postseason, but also how much of a drop-off Edmonton has experienced in the last year.
Having to Dig Out of Huge Holes
The Oilers fell behind 4-0 in Game 1 and 3-0 in Game 2, digging huge holes for themselves that proved too much from which to rally for victory.
Even though Edmonton managed to climb all the way back and draw even with the Kings in Game 1 at a score of 5-5, the Oilers still lost when Danault tallied in the final minute right after Edmonton had tied things up. And again in Game 2, Edmonton made things interesting, cutting Los Angeles’ lead to 3-2 in the third period, before the Kings closed the game with three unanswered goals.
Related: Kings Obliterate Oilers 6-2 to Take 2-0 Series Lead
The Oilers are blessed with the firepower to stage epic comebacks, but that blessing is also a curse, because they have become too comfortable with letting themselves fall behind by multi-goal deficits. They might be able to get away with it in the regular season against a bottom-feeder like the San Jose Sharks, but not in the playoffs against a quality squad like the Kings. At this time of year, even the most powerful of teams will be burned if they play with fire.
If only the Oilers came out of the gates with the urgency that they showed in the third period of Game 1, they might be returning from Los Angeles with a series split.
Can’t Keep Puck Out of Their Net
Edmonton has given up at least six goals in consecutive playoff games for the first time since 1981, when the Oilers were beaten 8-2 and 6-3 in Games 1 and 2, respectively, of the quarter-final round against the New York Islanders.
In the salary cap era (since 2005), NHL teams are now 4-192 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when giving up six or more goals. Not that we need stats to tell us that giving up an average of two goals every period is almost certainly going to end in defeat.
The question that must be asked is, why are the Oilers getting lit up like a Christmas tree in the springtime? It’s easy to point the finger squarely at netminder Stuart Skinner, and while the 26-year-old has not performed well at all (6.11 goals-against average, .810 save percentage), he has been absolutely hung out to dry by his teammates.
Just about everyone on the roster is culpable for poor defensive play, from giveaways and turnovers to breakdowns and lapses. It’s so egregious that pretty much any goalie on the planet would have conceded at least four goals in each of the games if they were made to play behind this group of Oilers skaters.
There is a very good chance that Calvin Pickard starts between the pipes for Edmonton in Game 3. He obviously needs to be much better than Skinner, but it may not matter if Edmonton’s skaters don’t start making life easier (or stop making it so hard) for their goaltender.
Los Angeles Has Been Superior Squad
This won’t be what anyone in Oil Country wants to hear, but it could simply be that the 2024-25 Kings are a better team than the 2024-25 Oilers.
Los Angeles finished with more points in the Pacific Division standings. The Kings won more games in regulation. They had a significantly better goal differential. And after Game 2, Los Angeles is now 5-1 against Edmonton in the 2024-25 regular season and 2025 Playoffs combined, outscoring the Oilers 24-12 over those six games.
The mantra in Edmonton has always been that as long as the Oilers have Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, they have a chance. The Oilers will try to turn things around when they host the Kings for Game 3 at Rogers Place on Friday (April 25).
