Heading into the series against the Los Angeles Kings there was no doubt that the Edmonton Oilers would be able to win this series. Unfortunately, after two games they have not won game and are now heading back to Edmonton down two games to none in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. While the Oilers have shown some glimmers of hope they mostly have earned their fate of being down 2 with the way they are playing.
That is what drives me crazy the most about the Oilers in these past two games. The fact they have shown that they can completely dominate the Kings, but they can seem to keep that pressure and intensity going through the whole game. I am not asking them to kill themselves every shift but at least play smart and use your head every shift. The Oilers have just been playing, for lack of a better term, stupid hockey. They are leaving players wide open in the slot or for back door tap ins. You are not going to win a game in the Playoffs if you keep that up.
Oilers need to start with small victories first
The Oilers right now need to not focus on winning a game they need to focus on things a lot smaller than that. A couple of things would be, staying out of the penalty box, don't leave players open in your own end and get pucks deep when you have the chance. While the Oilers strength is their offense against the Kings, they also need to be strong defensively which they have not been.
For some reason so far this series the Oilers have been terrible on the penalty kill. While the Kings powerplay had been decent in the at the end of the season it wasn't 50% good which mean the Oilers penalty kill needs to be better, if it can't get any better the next best thing would be to not take any penalties. If they don't take penalties, there will be none to kill.
The other two examples of keeping players covered and getting pucks deep is a tale as old as time in the NHL. It is the things that you learn on day one when you start to how to play the game. For some reason though the Kings are finding themselves wide open a lot of the time and yes, while you would like Stuart Skinner to make a save once in a while, when an NHL player is open in the slot odds are he is going to score.
The Oilers will get a chance to bring their team back from the dead tomorrow on home ice in front of their fans. If they cannot bring a winning effort tomorrow then I hate to say, but this season is over for the Oilers, and it would be a very disappointing season to say the least. After what happened last playoffs, losing in the first round is unacceptable. So, I expect the Oilers to bring everything they got tomorrow and win.