LOS ANGELES — Edmonton Oilers centre Mattias Janmark took the morning skate as a place holder for Evander Kane on a line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and appears he is very close to returning to the series against the Los Angeles Kings Saturday night.
Janmark injured his foot blocking a shot late in Game 1 and hasn’t played since. But he is back practising like a guy who is ready to return, though head coach Jay Woodcroft would not say if Janmark will re-join the team for Game 6.
Is he healthy enough to play, if called upon?
“I think so,” offered Janmark. “I think everyone is battling something. I don’t know, to be honest, but I want to play. You have to look and see (at the status of his injury), and we’ll see how you feel and see how it progresses.”
That’s a wishy-washy way of saying he’s ready to return — which would be good for the Oilers. Janmark was acquired specifically for this time of year, a savvy veteran of 62 NHL playoff games who does those little things that help a team collect post-season Ws.
The Oilers lead the best-of-seven first-round series, 3-2. Watch Game 6 on Hockey Night in Canada on Sportsnet, CBC and SN NOW, starting at 8 p.m. MT / 10 p.m. ET.
“This is the time of the year that you really want to play,” the 30-year-old said. “Last year, I missed the playoffs (with Vegas), so I’ve been eager to get back playing — then I got hit the first game and haven’t played since. Obviously, you’re eager to get back again.”
It looks like injured Blake Lizotte will return for L.A. Saturday night. His last action came in Game 2.
Leaning on Leon
There might not be a more productive big-game player in the game today than Draisaitl.
He is tied for the NHL lead with six post-season goals, and tied for third with 10 points. He finished second to McDavid in playoff scoring last season (33 points to 32), but leads all scorers with 42 points when you combine both playoff seasons.
Draisaitl has actually outscored McDavid in their 42 playoff games together, 69 points to 63. It’s why Edmonton has the chance to go on a long run — because you know their top guys show up in games like Game 6 at Crypto.com Arena.
Where does that come from?
“I was very lucky, very fortunate that my dad played in a lot of big games,” he said of his father, Peter Draisaitl, a long-time German national team player back in the 1980s and ‘90s. “He always preached to me that … big-time players show up in big games. I really, really pride myself in that. It’s really important to me.
“I try to do it every night. Some nights it works, and on some nights you’re missing something. But I definitely go in with the same mindset every night.”
While the Maple Leafs struggle with attaining a killer instinct in big games, the Oilers came down to L.A. a year ago needing to win a Game 6 or go home. They won that game, beat the Kings again in Game 7, and snuffed out the Calgary Flames in the only elimination game of that second-round series.
Draisaitl had 17 points in that five-game series against the Flames, the stuff of legends.
“Every great player has had a moment in his career where maybe he didn’t play his best game in an important moment. That’s normal — that’s going to happen. You’re not going to play your No. 1, ‘A’ game every single night there’s a big game,” he said. “But you try to bring something to the table in a consistent way when it matters most, and I think we got a lot of those guys on our team here.”
One for the Road
Road teams are 27-17 in these playoffs, heading into Saturday’s action. That means home teams are winning only 38 per cent of their games.
So much for last change and line matchups.
“I think the league is so good nowadays that the matchups aren’t the most important thing anymore,” Draisaitl said. “I personally believe that every third, fourth line on every team is good enough to play against every first line.
“Our fourth line can play against any line. And I’m sure (the Kings) would say the same thing,” he said. “They’re all good skaters. They’ve all got good hockey sense and are hard to play again. So, yeah, I don’t think it’s that big of a factor anymore.”
There was a time when every fourth line included a heavyweight — or a player or two who didn’t skate so well — which presented a bad matchup come playoff time. Those days are gone, leaving home-ice advantage to be settled more by the fans than the coaches.
“You always want to play at home, for sure,” said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “But I think sometimes on the road you have a different kind of mindset of playing simple, keeping things simple. That’s going to go a long way for us tonight.”
The biggest difference Saturday night will be the level of desperation between a Kings team that must win or see their season end, and an Oilers team that would like to finish L.A. off — but will have another try in Game 7 if they fail.
“They’re going to be a desperate team, but we need to be able to match it. Just match their energy level,” said Nugent-Hopkins, the 37-goal scorer this season who is still searching for his first playoff goal this spring. “Especially our start in Game 4 down here. They came out really, really fast and pushed us back on our heels. We can’t let that happen tonight.
“We’re a refreshed team, they’re a refreshed team. So, we shouldn’t let that happen tonight. We still need to play with a level of desperation.”
Byfield: Kings Playing with Desperation
Quinton Byfield scored his first career playoff goal in Game 5, but barely got a chance to celebrate. It was the Kings’ third goal in a 6-3 game, not the time to pull out the signature celly.
“That goal wasn’t really important in the game,” he told the L.A. media. “But it’s good for me just to know that I can score again, that I can look at the net and know I can beat the goaltender.”
At 20, the Kings are patiently waiting for Byfield to become a productive NHLer. He had three goals in 53 games this season, and has not been an offensive factor in Round 1, with 1-2-3 in five games.
When does Byfield flip that switch and become the player the Kings thought they drafted second overall in 2020?
“It’s not an easy answer. It’s not a simple, ‘Now’s the time,’ or tomorrow or six weeks ago. There is no easy answer to that,” Kings head coach Todd McLellan said. “Q scored the other day. There are others that are on the clock now, others that haven’t scored since Q scored. So, now they’re on the clock.”
Byfield might fall off the top line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, perhaps replaced by Lizotte. If so, he’ll likely line up with Gabe Vilardi and Kevin Fiala, two good players who might help Byfield find offence.
“Todd said, ‘Just swing the bat.’ So, I think that’s what we’re going to do,” Byfield said. “I think when we were up 3-0 (in Game 4), we just sat back and let it come right to us. That team is so good that if you let that happen, it’s not going to end well.
“I just think we’re going to play not scared, with a lot of excitement and a lot of desperation, and I think we’re ready for it.
