Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke reacts after scoring in the first period of Game 2. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The Kings and Edmonton Oilers are old postseason foes, with this first-round matchup marking their 11th meeting in the Stanley Cup playoffs. But with Wednesday’s 6-2 win in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series, the Kings have done something they’d never accomplished.
They’ve taken a 2-0 lead.
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The Kings, who have yet to trail in the series, got two goals from Adrian Kempe and scores from Brandt Clarke, Quinton Byfield, Andrei Kuzmenko and Anze Kopitar, with Clarke, Kuzmenko and Kopitar all scoring on the power play.
Leon Draisaitl and former King Viktor Arvidsson got the goals for Edmonton, which has been outscored 12-7 in the two games.
The last time the Kings had a 2-0 postseason series lead over anybody was in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final, when they won their last title. That was also the last time the Kings won a postseason series.
“We got the home-ice advantage, we worked really hard for it, and we wanted to take advantage,” defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “So we’re happy so far. [We’ll] come to the rink tomorrow and you worry about tomorrow. Talk about the game, and then you get ready for the the next game, you focus on that.
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“But so far it’s a really good start.”
The win was the Kings’ NHL-best 33rd at home, but now they’ll go on the road, where they had a losing record this season. Edmonton will play host to Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday. Game 5, if necessary, will be at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday.
After winning a Game 1 shootout in which the teams combined for 11 goals — seven in the final 20 minutes 6 seconds — the Kings went in front to stay in Game 2 on Clarke’s first career playoff goal 8:44 into the first period. And they got help from an unexpected source.
Winger Evander Kane, who was making his season debut for the Oilers, was on the ice just 95 seconds before drawing a cross-checking penalty, giving the Kings the man advantage. And Clarke made the Oilers pay, deflecting in a pass from former Oiler Warren Foegele for the power-play goal.
Anze Kopitar scores past Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner in the third period of Game 2. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Byfield then doubled the margin shortly after the first intermission before Kuzmenko made it 3-0 with another power-play goal midway through the second period.
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The Kings have scored five times with the man advantage in the two games while holding Edmonton’s power play scoreless in five tries. In last year’s playoff loss to the Oilers, the Kings were 0 for 12 on the power play and killed just 11 of 20 Edmonton power plays.
“We all had a few days to talk about what the series might look like. And if you just reflect back one year, their power play is really good. And we didn’t score a power-play goal last year in the series, and that was a big difference,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “So that clearly was going to have to be an emphasis for us this year. And I think both the penalty kill and power play performed pretty well.”
Draisaitl got Edmonton on the board, scoring on a deflection at 13:54 of the second period. It was the second goal of the series for Draisaitl, who led the league with 52 in an injury-shortened season.
Draisaitl’s second-period goal in Game 1 helped the Oilers rally from a 4-0 deficit, only to lose 6-5. His Game 2 goal started another rally, and Arvidsson’s tip-in four minutes into the third period made it a one-goal game.
Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper stops the puck in the third period of Game 2. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
But the comeback stalled there with Kempe and Kopitar answering with goals less than three minutes apart to restore order. After Kopitar’s power-play goal the Oilers pulled goaltender Stuart Skinner and replaced him with Calvin Pickard, who gave up a goal to Kempe on the first shot he faced.
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Kempe had two assists to go with his two goals while Kopitar had three assists.
But while the Kings have a 2-0 lead, the series, Foegele said, is far from over.
“It’s the first one to four,” he said. “We still have a long road to go. We just take it day by day, celebrate the win tonight, but tomorrow it’s back to focusing on Game 3.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
