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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Shots were overwhelmingly in the Los Angeles Kings’ favor in Game 4. Attempts were decidedly in their favor against the Edmonton Oilers. All sorts of advanced measureables were on their side. They had achieved controlling play against an opponent that can turn explosive at any moment.
But even with the game played at their pace and the Oilers held in check, the Kings only had one close call in terms of scoring a goal, when defenseman Matt Roy jumped up and pushed a loose puck just wide of the net through a scramble of players in front of Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner. Shots had been taken and bodies went to the net, but there was no bounce or deflection that went the Kings’ way.
It made the one power play they got Sunday a crucial turning point. Staring at a 1-0 deficit, the Kings got their chance with 11:11 left in regulation when Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak got his stick up high on Phillip Danault. There was no better opportunity for them to snap out of their series-long funk with the man advantage and score a big goal that could turn a pivotal Game 4 in their direction.
Over the next two minutes, the Kings managed one blocked shot attempt from Viktor Arvidsson. That’s it.
The utter failure of that five-on-four stretch encapsulates the Kings’ 0-for-11 power play drought, which has played a sizable role in a one-sided edge for Edmonton’s special teams and a 3-1 series lead for the Oilers heading into Game 5 on Wednesday night.
“The power play hasn’t been good, so we’re not doing a good enough job,” Kings captain Anže Kopitar said Tuesday. “Whether that’s movement, getting the pucks to the net, making plays. Bottom line, it’s not good enough and we’re going to have to be better in Game 5.”
The Kings have felt good about their play when there are five skaters per side, and a 10-9 scoring edge backs that up. But both elements of their special teams may be the thing that fells them for a third straight time against the Oilers in the playoffs. Layer on top of that a penalty kill that can’t keep down Edmonton’s vaunted power play — the Oilers are 8-for-15 — and that’s a good starting point as to why they’re on the brink of elimination.
As much as the Oilers carving up what was the NHL’s second-ranked penalty kill during the regular season is a significant storyline, the Kings’ woeful power play is an inescapable issue, even as coach Jim Hiller has alternately acknowledged it and tried to downplay the impact or the problems behind it.
“It’s been four games,” Hiller said. “You can look at a lot of stretches during the season where you go four games and your power play doesn’t score. It’s magnified now because we’re in the playoffs, for sure. But that’s just the way it goes. It goes up and down sometimes and then all of a sudden it gets hot and you say, ‘Wow, are you guys ever going good on the power play.’
“A lot of times, it’s the same situation. You’re just not quite executing. You’re not feeling it as well as you are. So, we got to get feeling it soon but we’re not going to worry about it. We’re not going to stress about it. We’re not going to spend too much extra time on it.”
The Kings weren’t as good on the power play this season as in 2022-23, when they made a major leap to fourth in the NHL by converting 25.3 percent of their chances after years of struggles. But it wasn’t a massive drop-off, as they were 12th this season, with a 22.6 percent success rate. Hiller has run throughout, as he has kept those responsibilities while ascending to the head coach role after Todd McLellan was fired.
Among the adjustments from year to year have been the departure of Gabriel Vilardi and Alex Iafallo, and the incorporation of PL Dubois. Jordan Spence has filled the second-unit point position that was manned by Sean Durzi, who’s now in Arizona. Arthur Kaliyev falling out of favor also removed a hard, heavy shot. But in the times that the Kings did struggle this season, they lamented not having Arvidsson and his right-handed shot as a passing option from the goal line for much of the season.
Arvidsson came back for good on March 20 and the Kings went 11-for-40 on their opportunities with him back in the fold through the end of the season. Two power-play goals were scored in games against Minnesota, Calgary, Vancouver and Chicago. But they’ve gone desert-dry at the worst possible time.
“We need to bear down,” Arvidsson said. “We need to move the puck fast and be threats. For sure, we want to score on the power play.”
It has been the same looks for virtually every power play. Arvidsson is on the top unit with Adrian Kempe, Kevin Fiala and Anze Kopitar, and Drew Doughty as the lone defenseman in the four-forward setup that’s basically used league-wide. The second unit is occupied by Dubois, Trevor Moore, Quinton Byfield, Phillip Danault and Spence. There has been minimal, if not any, change between the groupings.
And it could stay that way unless Hiller throws a curveball in Game 5. He deflected a question about considerations for some mix of personnel. (Earlier in the series, Hiller essentially rendered Kaliyev a non-option for his lineup. Kaliyev, who has 17 career power-play goals, hasn’t played since April 3.).
When the Kings have the advantage, Arvidsson often works by the goal line and takes passes from teammates up high or on the half-wall and quickly surveys what he finds to be the open option. He said a power play is usually most effective when it has a good mix of right-handed and left-handed shots. When the Kings’ power play is cooking, the veteran winger said the interchangeability of the five players and the pace of puck movement often make it successful.
“It’s huge,” he said. “Everybody being a threat when they have the puck. I think that’s a lot of it. Good power plays, that’s how they do. That’s how they have success.”
Getting Fiala going in Game 5 would aid in their efforts. There is a dynamic element to his game, but the Oilers have mostly neutralized that. His only point in the first four games was a go-ahead score at even strength in L.A.’s victorious Game 2.
Fiala led the Kings with 11 power-play goals during the regular season. Hiller believes Game 4 was the forward’s best game of the series and is confident that he’ll take his play in five-on-five can carry over to the power play.
“By far, I thought he was the most dangerous,” Hiller said. “Kevin’s most dangerous when he’s in the o-zone taking people on one-on-one. He gets his feet going, he protects it, he bumps off somebody and then he gets going and he looks to create. To me, he can build on that game.”
The Kings have gone to the cliché well when it comes to mounting a comeback. Hunger. Desperation. Emotion. One game at a time. The series isn’t over. And those statements are all valid. But they’ve got to execute, and breaking the ice on a frozen power play is one step toward staying alive.
“I just think we need to score,” Arvidsson said. “That’s it. We need to win the game. I think that’s our mindset right now. We got to create momentum for our team on the power play. We haven’t really done that this series.”
(Photo of Kings’ Anže Kopitar and Oilers’ Evan Bouchard: Gary A. Vasquez / NHLI via Getty Images)
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Courtesy : https://theathletic.com/5462094/2024/04/30/la-kings-power-play-oilers/