Trailing in a Stanley Cup playoff series is nothing new to the Edmonton Oilers.
Last year alone, the Oilers overcame 2-1 and 3-2 deficits against the Vancouver Canucks, as well as a 2-1 deficit to the Dallas Stars.
But as the Oilers prepare to play host to the Los Angeles Kings on Friday, they know Game 3 is paramount in their best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series.
Edmonton is down 2-0 in the series and has surrendered six goals in each loss, with No. 1 netminder Stuart Skinner under the microscope because of it.
That prompted a change as the Oilers are now turning to Calvin Pickard in the crease.
Pickard relieved Skinner midway into the third period of Wednesday’s 6-2 loss to the Kings. He allowed one goal on three shots.
Playoff hockey returns to Edmonton
The journeyman goaltender was asked on Friday afternoon how he plans to approach Game 3.
“The same way I’ve approached every game as an Oiler, go out and do my job and give our team a chance to win,” Pickard said.
“Obviously the last two games didn’t go as planned in all facets, but we know we have a better effort in this locker room and we know we’re going to do that tonight.”
Pickard went 22-10-1 for Edmonton this season. He made his NHL playoff debut last season.
Defenceman Darnell Nurse noted that it wasn’t all Skinner’s fault.
“We’ve been hanging our goalie out to dry on quite a few occasions,” Nurse said.
“I think he’s actually made some huge stops for us in a timely manner, too, so we got to be better.”
Is the Oilers and Kings matchup a rivalry no one wanted, or more than that?
Then again, five-on-five defensive play is only one part of the equation for the Oilers.
Their special teams performance has been abysmal. While Edmonton’s power play has been blanked on five chances, the Kings have racked up five goals on 10 man-advantage opportunities.
“If we have to have an opportunity to turn this thing around, it’s special teams,” coach Kris Knoblauch said.
“But you look at the goals against, there are certain things that we can do better. Not that we have to change our system, but we just need to elevate our play, mostly when we’re on the kill.”
Teams that have taken a 2-0 series lead in best-of-seven series have won 86 per cent of the time.
To overcome the odds, the Oilers must be significantly better than they have been thus far.
“We got a hunger to win as well, but we got to ramp it up,” forward Leon Draisaitl said. “We got to dig in. We got to start playing here. Obviously, it hasn’t been good enough.”
The Kings, who had the league’s best home record in the regular season, now must find the formula to take their show on the road. Los Angeles had a losing mark away from its rink, but the Kings certainly do not lack for confidence right now, especially with their special-teams play at such a high level.
“We talked about it before the series began,” coach Jim Hiller said of the special teams battle.
“I’ll just go back one year. Their power play is really good and we didn’t score a power-play goal last year in the series [a 4-1 first-round loss], and that was a big difference. That clearly was going to have to be an emphasis for us this year.”
It helps the Kings have shown scoring depth, with not just their key players making an impact. While Adrian Kempe has already netted three goals and four assists, captain Anze Kopitar has one goal and five points and Kevin Fiala has netted one goal and two assists.
Penalties prove too costly for Oilers in Game 2
But the second wave has been important. Andrei Kuzmenko, a trade-deadline pickup, has ignited the power play and posted two goals and three assists, while Quinton Byfield and Phil Danault have both tallied twice.
As a team, they also kept captain Connor McDavid off the scoresheet in Game 2 after he had a four-point performance in the opener. Draisaitl has scored once in each game, but he has been held relatively in check in terms of scoring chances.
“They’re the best players in the world. They’re so dynamic, you know you’ve got to respect them but you can’t respect them too much,” forward Warren Foegele said.
“It’s an opportunity for us to go against them and they’re obviously going to make plays because they’re so good, but you try to limit them as much as we can.”
