LOS ANGELES — Two wins at home certainly have the Los Angeles Kings feeling good about where they stand in their playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers. It also stands to reason that, at some point, the Oilers will show their best as the teams head north of the border for Game 3.
But if the Oilers’ best was Connor McDavid putting them on his shoulders for 12 minutes in Game 1, the Kings should be emboldened by how this fourth-straight matchup has evolved. At least for the first two games, they’re now the better team without question. And they’ve now got this moment to show why the rest of the way.
No dramatics were required Wednesday night. No last-minute goal to recover from a lost lead. The Kings led start to finish, busting out to another big lead and answering an Edmonton pushback with a forceful shove to resume their 6-2 thumping of the Oilers in Game 2.
The Kings haven’t just turned the tables after first-round losses in three straight years; they’ve got the Oilers trapped underneath them. This is the first time they’ve held a 2-0 series lead. It’s the first time they’ve had a 2-0 bulge in any of the six playoff rounds they’ve played since grabbing that kind of an edge against the New York Rangers in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final.
That, of course, ended well for them. We’re a long, long way from drawing lines to that. But they’ve got to make this one count. The Oilers are ripe for the taking, and this is the opportunity for a real playoff run that the Kings and their faithful have waited for.
“We’ve been a really strong team this year,” said Adrian Kempe, who had two more goals Wednesday after scoring in Game 1. “We got the home ice advantage. Going into the series, I think that was kind of our mentality, that we build off what we’ve done all year at home. I think we did show that in the first game. Yeah, it was a little tighter at the end than maybe we wanted to. But once again tonight, I think we came out and we played a really solid 60 minutes. I think we’re the better team throughout both games.
“Confidence has been really good at home. I think it’s something that we can build on. … We can’t just rely on our home game throughout the entire playoffs. Road games got to be a lot better than they have been in the past.”
That’s the next test for the Kings, as Rogers Place will be raucous for Games 3 and 4. But winning the first two at home, where they went 31-6-4 during the regular season, was important, and the Kings fed off a Crypto.com Arena crowd that provided a lot of energy. The sellout crowds have been loudly singing the anthem in unison. As the Kings kept putting pucks past Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner on Wednesday, the fans derisively serenaded him each time.
Even when Skinner was pulled with 9:30 left and Kempe beat Calvin Pickard on the first shot Pickard faced, the revved-up audience eventually turned to chanting, “We want Skinner!” And as the crowd exited the building, “Skin-ner” was belted out into the L.A. night.
The Kings will probably get Pickard for Game 3 on Friday. They’ve shredded Skinner and the Oilers with an offense ignited by lightning bolt Andrei Kuzmenko and Swedish sniper Kempe, who everyone around the club calls “Juice.”
Kempe stopped another Oilers rally in its tracks. After Viktor Arvidsson, his former teammate for three years, cut the Kings’ lead to 3-2 with a deflection goal early in the third, Kempe found himself all alone while Kopitar spotted him out of his rear view after forcing a turnover. Skinner was no match for the wrist shot that’s factored in a Kings-best 139 goals over the last four seasons.
Just for kicks, Kempe greeted Pickard with the Kings’ sixth goal, capping a four-point night to match his longtime linemate Kopitar (1 goal, 3 assists). He’s now upped his goal total in four playoff series against Edmonton to 14 in 20 contests. If there is an Oiler killer, he’s it.
“More exciting time obviously,” Kempe said. “It’s a long season, so it’s tough mentally and physically to play throughout all 82 games. Playoff comes around and you get that little extra excitement in your body. You feel it around the team, around the building, everything. The building’s loud.
“You get some nerves sometimes. Usually, I like to play in those kinds of games. I’m very excited to play in every playoff game, so that’s probably a big factor.”
The Kings have had the edge in … well, everything. The special teams that were horrendous last year have completely turned, with five power-play goals in 10 opportunities after going 0-for-12 and a penalty kill that’s erased all five short-handed situations after being lit up nine times by Edmonton in 20 chances a year ago.
McDavid had a four-point Game 1 but saw his 18-game playoff scoring streak snapped while being matched in Game 2 by Kempe, the early playoff point leader with seven. Kuzmenko had two more points after getting three in his first NHL playoff game. Quinton Byfield has goals in both games.
The Kings didn’t lose their focus, which may be the best thing to come out of Game 2. They don’t intend to.
“You know, it’s the first one to four and we still have a long road to go,” said Warren Foegele, now on the Kings side after three years with the Oilers. “We just take it day by day. Celebrate the win tonight, but tomorrow it’s back to focusing on Game 3 and just taking it day by day.”
Kings coach Jim Hiller didn’t bite, either. It’s been decisive to this point — perhaps more than anyone could have realized — but he didn’t cop to being surprised.
“We’ve played really well,” Hiller said. “I like how we’ve played. We finished pretty well to score that many goals. Tonight, in particular, we had some shots alone with the goaltender and beat him. And we finished really well. There’s some different things that go into it when you’re finishing well. The score will go up a little quicker. But just generally overall, we’re playing pretty good, solid hockey. Offensively, defensively. I think both parts are there.”
The Oilers will be heard from. McDavid will be heard from. So will Leon Draisaitl, who has goals in the first two games. And maybe Pickard — or Skinner, if coach Kris Knoblauch decides to stick with his embattled starter — will deliver a clutch performance. An unexpected lift might come from another source. Things could be different on their ice with a loud crowd behind them.
But they’ve got to do something to shake a Kings club whose quiet confidence continues to grow with each passing day. After all, this is a club that finished the season with a 17-5-0 run. They’ve been the better team. They’re just not saying so.
“I think we’ve executed better,” said second-year defenseman Brandt Clarke, who got his first NHL playoff goal to kick off Wednesday’s blowout. “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We’re up two games to zero. We’re really happy with where we’re at. We know they’re really strong. They’re going to make adjustments. They’re going to come out firing. They’re going to be excited to play in front of their home fans.
“I think we’ve done a good job holding it down at home. We’re really confident with where we’re at, but we still got to execute. We still got to go up to Edmonton and make a difference. Keep playing the way we’ve been playing, and good things are going to happen.”
(Photo: Harry How / Getty Images)