LOS ANGELES — Even as their confidence continued to build throughout the series, the Edmonton Oilers still needed to win a game at the Los Angeles Kings’ rink, where the home team has been dominant all season.
On Tuesday night in a pivotal Game 5, the Oilers proved dominant while continuing to come through in the clutch.
Edmonton controlled the first two periods and then put a dent in Darcy Kuemper’s stellar performance as Mattias Janmark’s goal at 7:12 of the third period snapped a tie game and lifted the Oilers to a 3-1 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
Janmark buried a rebound that Kuemper spat out after stopping Viktor Arvidsson’s initial shot. It marked Janmark’s second goal of the series after scoring in Game 1. The 32-year-old forward has 13 goals in 96 postseason contests.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins sealed the victory with a shot into the empty Los Angeles net with 57.8 seconds left. This was the first time in franchise history that the Oilers have recorded three consecutive comeback wins in the playoffs. They can eliminate the Kings for the fourth straight year with a victory Thursday at home in Game 6.
The Kings pulled Kuemper with 3:16 remaining, but couldn’t get a prime scoring look with the extra attacker. It was evident during the game as Edmonton delivered its best showing of the series, particularly defensively. Kuemper kept it close with a 43-save performance two nights after making 44 stops in the Oilers’ series-changing Game 4 overtime win.
Kuemper allowed the Kings to escape the first period unscathed as he continued his terrific play from the overtime session of Game 4. The Oilers peppered him with 19 shots, but all were turned aside, including chances from in close by Corey Perry, Adam Henrique and Arvidsson. Kuemper foiled Evan Bouchard on a terrific glove stop.
Buoyed by their goalie’s play, the Kings struck first for the fourth time in five games. Alex Turcotte, who hadn’t played since Game 1, drew a tripping penalty early in the second on the Oilers’ Darnell Nurse. The Kings made it count by getting their eighth power-play goal of the series as Andrei Kuzmenko got a successful tip of Anze Kopitar’s point shot.
The Oilers broke through on Kuemper, answering just 2:43 later with an even-strength marker. Los Angeles managed to kill off a Drew Doughty tripping infraction, but John Klingberg kept the puck in the offensive zone and found Evander Kane in the slot. Kane’s wrister beat Kuemper for a 1-1 tie.
But Edmonton kept up the pressure and continued to look like the fresher team. Over a four-period stretch between the third period and overtime of Game 4 and the first 40 minutes on Tuesday, the Oilers had an overwhelming 66-25 advantage in shots on goal.
Janmark comes through in the clutch
Janmark played in all but two of the Oilers’ 82 regular-season games this season. He scored all of two goals. He has equaled that total in this series.
Suffice it to say the one he scored in Game 5 was the biggest yet.
Janmark deposited a rebound off a shot from Arvidsson, the former Kings winger, off a rush to give the Oilers their first lead of the game. Vasily Podkolzin picked up the second helper as part of a revamped fourth line to close out Game 4.
Janmark’s campaign and playoffs appear to be mirroring last season. He was disappointed with his four-goal, 12-point output, but responded by playing an integral role in the Stanley Cup Final run. He recorded four goals and eight points while providing near-flawless penalty killing. That earned him a three-year, $1.45 million average annual value contract with a partial no-movement clause.
Oilers offense snake-bitten
It was as if the rink was a pendulum through the first two periods. In the first, the ice was tilted toward the Kings’ zone. Then, as the teams switched ends, the game flow swung to follow them.
The Oilers dominated the opening 40 minutes, out-attempting the Kings 62-29. They had an 84 percent expected goal percentage at five-on-five over that span, per Natural Stat Trick. Yet, they mustered only one goal, a shot from Kane just after an unsuccessful power play that veered sharply after it hit the left skate of Kings blueliner Vladislav Gavrikov.
The Oilers had some phenomenal scoring chances. Kuemper’s sliding glove save robbed Bouchard on a two-on-one just past the midway mark of the first period. Perry missed a tap-in early in the second frame before the Kings goalie blocked Trent Frederic’s shot on another two-on-one.
The visitors could have, nay, should have, had a comfortable lead heading into the second intermission. Instead, the score was tied.
Knoblauch continues deceptiveness with forward lines
The Oilers made a switcheroo up front ahead of Game 3 based on what was displayed during the morning skate and in warmups. Leon Draisaitl was slated to be on a line with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman, whereas Nugent-Hopkins was set to center the second line with Podkolzin and Arvidsson. By the time the puck dropped, Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins were flipped.
Coach Kris Knoblauch later said that he felt some lack of transparency was good in the playoffs because “there’s a lot on the line.”
“I don’t know what games we’re playing, but I’d like to play along, I guess,” Knoblauch said, smiling. “At this point of the season, any little advantage you can have is very important.”
Well, that mindset was even more apparent Tuesday.
The Oilers ran the same forward lines that started Game 4 during the morning skate and in warmups. They then went with the ones that were used to end Game 4 right off the bat. That meant McDavid and Draisaitl were with Perry, and Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman were alongside Kane to round out the top six.
Regardless of his tricking methodology, Knoblauch chose correctly, as the Oilers had their best start to a game despite the first goalless period of the series. He wanted his players to be more desperate, and they were all over the Kings in the opening 20 minutes, outshooting the home side 19-4 and out-attempting them 33-14.
Kings have difficulty getting through neutral zone
For the first time in the series, the Kings looked discombobulated when they went on the offensive attack. Passes that had connected between teammates and led to numerous quality scoring chances in the first four games often didn’t in Game 5.
The Oilers deserve credit for breaking up more plays in the neutral zone and keeping more pucks in the L.A. end with an effective forecheck. But the Kings often had trouble getting pucks out of their zone when they had chances to break out cleanly. Even the normally sure-handed Kopitar had trouble keeping pucks or receiving passes.
Add in the Oilers’ natural ability to possess the puck when they had McDavid and Draisaitl on the ice, and the shot counter widened in Edmonton’s favor throughout the first two periods. At one point, the Oilers had a 33-11 advantage late in the second.
Whatever goal they had of testing Calvin Pickard wasn’t fulfilled.
Little-used Spence comes back after Game 4 seat
Jordan Spence was no stranger to being given a night off during the regular season to recalibrate, but the fourth-year Kings defenseman suited up in 79 games and averaged nearly 17 minutes of playing time.
Often deployed on the second pairing with Gavrikov, Spence was trusted enough to play 20 or more minutes on 12 occasions. The 24-year-old played fewer than 10 minutes on three occasions, but it was still a shock to his system to spend Game 4 in the Rogers Place press box after playing just over 18 minutes total in the first three games.
How did he take the sudden change?
“I think the success we had in the regular season is because we all bought in and did our job,” said Spence, who played 2:55 in Game 3. “Doing the best you can. It’s a hard question, really. Obviously, in the playoffs, if they want me two to five minutes, then I’ll try to be the best on the ice and do the best I can.
“It’s not really my decision. It’s out of my control. Obviously want to work as hard as I can if I’m not playing. Trying to be ready when they give the opportunity.”
Spence was summoned for Game 5, and he logged the same amount of time in the first period as all of Game 3. The Kings have leaned heavily on their top four defensemen, but coach Jim Hiller conceded that fatigue may have come into play when Edmonton dominated the third period and overtime in Game 4.
Having the right-shooting Spence restored left-right balance to the Kings’ defense corps. An undersized puck mover, Spence said he has worked hard at his defensive game. The Kings have needed his ability to eat minutes with his skating and lessen the need to pair Gavrikov and Joel Edmundson as a second shutdown pairing behind Doughty and Mikey Anderson.
“I’m not that big of a guy, but just trying to use my body as best as I can,” he said. “Trying to eliminate guys. I think this year, I’ve improved during the season being a two-way player. And I think that’s what I bring to the table if I play my game. That’s what I want to do every game. I’m trying to be consistent and go from there.
As the teams took a tie game into the third period, Hiller and assistant coach D.J. Smith used the Edmundson-Gavrikov pairing.
(Photo: Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn Images)
