April 24th, 2025
JC Clemas
Monday’s game 1 was a chaotic 6-5 affair that ended in LA’s favour. Wednesday night gave us game 2 in LA before the series heads north. There were some notable lineup changes in this one for both sides. The biggest of these is Evander Kane’s return to the Oilers’ lineup for his season debut, replacing Jeff Skinner. Skinner got one game of playoff hockey and immediately got sent to the press box. Pretty sad. Then, John Klingberg went in for Josh Brown, which makes sense because Josh Brown is not good at hockey. On the other side, Alex Turcotte was taken out for Jacob Moverare as the Kings opted to go with 7 defensemen. They gave up 5 goals in a game, immediately panicked, and sent in an extra defenseman. He played 1 shift last night. Not sure what the lineup change was for. Anyway, let’s get to the game.
Period 1
We deserved a calm start after the emotional rollercoaster that was period 3 of game 1. That’s what we got.
It wasn’t a totally uneventful period. About midway through, Evander Kane made his presence in the lineup felt early: he took a penalty. The Kings’ first unit had some nice offensive zone pressure, but failed to convert in the 92 seconds they were out there. The second unit only needed 15. Warren Foegele made a nice move on the zone entry to get around Jake Walman, streaked in on the left side, and dished it into the middle. Crashing the crease was Brandt Clarke, who tapped it in for his 1st career playoff goal. Can’t really blame Skinner on that one. 1-0.
The Oilers did get 2 power plays in the 1st period, but failed to capitalize on either of them. The Kings’ special teams have been working out early in this series. At one point, a similar play that led to the Kings’ goal happened on the other end, but Kuemper made it over in time to deny the patented Zach Hyman tap-in. Though you can’t blame Skinner for conceding that, Kuemper showed what a good goalie can do for you. Sometimes you have to make saves on the shots you wouldn’t get blamed for allowing. While on the topic of power plays, it seems like we’re not going to be able to escape them this series. That was the story of last year in this matchup, and we’re trending towards the same thing here. It’s kind of a shame. Playoff hockey deserves to be played at even-strength. Hopefully the teams can become more disciplined. Or more subtle.
Period 2
It didn’t take too long for the action to start in the 2nd period.
Gavrikov stepped up to cut off a puck rolling along the boards and got flattened by Draisaitl. Lucky for Gavrikov, it turned out to be a “take the hit to make the play” moment. Nurse also pinched along the boards and the puck came free to Quinton Byfield. He was able to rush in on Skinner’s left. Bouchard had to play for the potential pass across to Fiala, and Byfield walked right in. He picked his corner perfectly and made it a 2-0 game.
See, again, it’s not particularly Skinner’s fault that this goal happened. He was left all alone. However, it seems that he is incapable of making a save that bails out his team ever. NHL goalies need to do that.
The sides then traded penalties, and after that, Edmonton added another for good measure. Can you tell this is annoying me? Anyway, Kuzmenko drew it on a nice move driving to the net. On the ensuing power play, the 1st unit yet again found extended offensive zone time. The puck was eventually swung back to Adrian Kempe at the point for a one-timer. He sent it wide and it perfectly rebounded to none other than
ANDREI KUZMENKOOOOOOOOO!
His 2nd goal in as many playoff games came just like his 1st: in front of the net on the power play. He’s been great at positioning himself in the right spot throughout these first two games, and he’s been rewarded for it. The difference between LA’s power play before and after Kuzmenko’s arrival really shows the power of a 5 forward unit. Teams that struggle on the power play should take notes. The Canucks’ best offensive player is a defenseman, so I doubt we’ll ever see that strategy on our 1st unit.
A short time after, Edmonton sent out that one line that has two of the best players in the game. Much like last game, that line got them on the board. They kept the puck hemmed into LA’s zone, and after some scrambling for the puck from both sides, it got to John Klingberg at the point. He made a beautiful pass through to Draisaitl, who was able to one-touch it home to get Edmonton on the board. Still a 3-1 lead for the Kings, but you’re certainly not very confident in that after the event of last game. They did make it through the rest of the period unscathed.
Period 3
Is it about to happen again?
That’s gotta be the thought on your mind entering this period. And that thought only becomes more pronounced when Viktor Arvidsson scores to make it 3-2. Vasily Podkolzin got the puck along the boards and sent it to the point where Brett Kulak was waiting. Kulak shot it towards the net, where Arvidsson made a nifty play to tip it past Kuemper while battling two Kings in front. That’s the type of secondary scoring the Oilers need to be getting if they want a chance at this series. Unfortunately, Arvidsson would cancel out his goal shortly after.
As he went back to collect the puck in his own zone, he got his signals crossed with Kulak. The puck ended up free for Kopitar to take, and with two Oilers committed to the corner, there was nobody to cover the front of the net. In comes Adrian Kempe with only Stuart Skinner to beat. Remember that thing I said about Skinner being unable to bail the Oilers out? They needed a save here to keep it a 1-goal game. That save did not come. Kempe sniped it home for his 2nd goal and 5th point of the young series.
That goal made it a 4-2 lead for LA. If we’ve learned anything, that’s not safe enough. Adam Henrique took a bad penalty simply out of frustration for yet another power play in this game. The power play once again delivered. Fiala managed to find Kopitar across the crease for his first goal of this series. I don’t think Kopitar gets enough praise for the type of two-way play he can still deliver at age 37. Maybe if he gets to go for a long run this year, he’ll get the respect that he deserves from NHL fans. 5-2. Third power play goal of the game for LA.
After a TV timeout, we returned to see Stuart Skinner on the bench. In his place was Calvin Pickard, who got a couple games against the Canucks in last year’s playoffs. He wasn’t bad. I mean surely he’d do better than Skinner, right?
First shot against: goal.
Kuzmenko nudged the puck up ahead to start a 2-on-1 with Kempe. Kempe, riding high so far, took it all himself. He perfectly picked his corner on Pickard for his SEVENTH point in the 2 games so far. Kuzmenko has 5 points. Kopitar has 5 points. The AK line is out for blood against the Oilers.
Overall Thoughts
WE NEED LESS PENALTIES!
The two teams combined for 8 power plays in this game. If I have one criticism for this series so far, it’s the fact that so much of it is being played at 5-on-4. Sure, Kuzmenko has scored twice on the power play so far, so I can’t really complain, but it’s still just not as fun to watch playoff games with this many power plays. The teams need to become a lot more disciplined. Maybe the refs even need to let one or two calls go? That happens all the time in the playoffs. I’m not sure what, but something has to change.
It’s quite funny how dominant LA’s special teams are right now considering it’s the opposite of what happened last season. Their power play is 5/10 so far this series and their penalty kill is 5/5. The penalty kill is most impressive, coming against a team that has relied heavily on the power play to register their points often. Not that they can’t score at even-strength. Their power play is just really good. I’m trying so hard to say something nice about the Oilers here. I promise.
The Kings currently don’t really have an answer for the AK line. The three have combined for 17 points in the 2 games so far, which is utterly absurd. Going back to Edmonton will be big for the Oilers for many reasons, but one notable one is that they get the last change. LA has largely been matching their 3rd line up against McDavid and Draisaitl, because that’s practically Danault’s specialty, but with Edmonton getting the last change, they have a heightened ability to get the matchups they want. Draisaitl’s goal came with the AK line on the ice. None of the other lines on the Oilers have been able to contain the trio, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see more shifts with those lines paired up against each other in game 3.
Stuart Skinner is not getting the crease in game 3. There’s surely just no way. Though Pickard gave up a goal on the first shot he saw, we can at least make the excuse for him that he got thrown in without a warmup. Skinner has given up 11 goals in 2 games this series. LA fans were even chanting “WE WANT SKINNER!” after he was pulled from last night’s contest. You just cannot give them what they want. Pickard may not be very good either, but clearly Skinner is not working out at all. It’s time to change it up.
Andrei Kuzmenko Recap
Kuzmenko may be earning himself a new contract from the Kings with the performances he’s been putting up for them. In this game, he managed 1 goal and 1 assist, good for 5 points in the 2 games so far. Can’t ask for much more from him!
He was noticeable all over the ice last night. There were moments where he’d come off the bench and immediately provide a spark on the ice. He looked fast. He seemed to be confident with the puck, taking opportunities to drive it to the net and even calling for it at times. A confident Kuzmenko has to be a scary sight for the opposition. He drew a penalty and scored on the power play, played decently responsible defense, and pretty much did everything you could expect out of him.
MoneyPuck tracked Kuzmenko at a 76.92 xGF% at 5-on-5. That was 4th highest on the Kings, only behind Kopitar, Gavrikov, and Moverare (who played one shift). That 76.92% was also the number that the AK line as a whole landed on in 5-on-5 xGF, which was the top percentage in the game amongst forward lines. It was 1.4% above Draisaitl - McDavid - Perry.
This Kings tenure is similar to the run Kuzmenko went on in his first year as a Canuck. Though he wasn’t the best player on his line, he made that better player way more efficient. Elias Pettersson’s numbers have never looked better than they did with Kuzmenko. The same thing is happening with Kempe and Kopitar. They were in a slump before Kuzmenko came along. Since the team acquired him and placed him on that top line, the trio are all feeding off each other and playing much better. Kuzmenko can be one of the best supporting pieces on a line in the entire league if he’s deployed correctly. He’s proving that right now. With all due respect to Rick Tocchet for what he’s accomplished in Vancouver so far, I do really hope he’s watching.
Let’s see if Kuzy can keep it rolling into Edmonton.
Game 3
The series is shifting to Canada for the third game, where LA will look to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. The game is on Friday, once again at 7:00 Pacific. 3-0 series leads are not exactly safe when it comes to the Oilers, but the Kings will certainly feel quite comfortable if they can take a game in Edmonton. Given their performance at home this season and in the first two games of this series, they may be okay if they don’t take either of these next two. But we’ll see.
It will be especially interesting to see who starts for the Oilers in game 3. Either way, the Kings will like the goalie matchup. After a shaky game 1, Kuemper was rock solid in game 2 and more like the goalie we saw in the regular season. Will Skinner get another chance to prove himself, or is it Pickard’s crease for a game? We’ll find out soon.