EDMONTON — As the rubber begin to flow past Joonas Korpisalo, and those pesky Los Angeles Kings finally ceded a lead of more than two goals, we began to wonder, with three off days before Game 6 in California:
Have the Oilers finally broken the Los Angeles Kings?
Edmonton ran away to a 6-3 Game 5 win Tuesday, taking a 3-2 lead in this opening-round series in the first lopsided game of the matchup. Since emerging from the dressing room after the first period of Game 4 trailing 3-0, the Oilers have outscored L.A. 11-4 and won two games.
They’re pulling away from L.A., like Usain Bolt at the 60-metre mark.
“We’re in a good spot,” admitted Zach Hyman. “We’ve put ourselves in a good spot.”
But just how bad a spot are the Kings in?
Korpisalo, accused of stealing Games 1 and 3 from Edmonton, was yanked after the fourth goal on 19 shots Tuesday. The Oilers are beating him high and from distance, as the dam that was this Columbus outcast has burst.
A pair of Hall of Fame players — 35-year-old Anze Kopitar and 33-year-old Drew Doughty — are slowing in this series, as the new guard that is Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, Evander Kane, Hyman et al do to these veteran Kings what they did 11 years ago to the Vancouver Canucks.
“I think we need to play more assertive, right from the start,” said Kopitar. “I mean, it’s the start that we didn’t want tonight and didn’t need. More desperate and a lot more assertive.”
While the Kings are fading, the Oilers are coming on.
The story after three games was that Kane, Hyman, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had one empty-netter between them, and McDavid didn’t have an even-strength point. Today, that story has flipped.
Kane and Hyman each have key goals in back-to-back games. McDavid and Draisaitl are marching relentlessly towards their usual perch atop the NHL scoring race.
And depth centre Nick Bjugstad, promoted to the second unit so that McDavid and Draisaitl could team up on Line 1, potted two goals in Game 5 to help bury the Kings. Both were ugly, down-low goals — the kind the Oilers have often lacked when winter turns to spring.
“That’s why we’re a good team,” said Draisaitl. “Because we have so many guys that can put the puck in the net, create chances and goals for us. So it’s great seeing those guys get on the board.”
Hyman took a fluttering Bouchard clapper off the chin, grimacing as it caromed into the net for a 5-2 lead. Then he did the bench fly-by, tapping gloves with one hand, holding his marred chin in the other.
It was the first three-goal lead in a series where the Oilers have led by two often, and a breaking point for L.A.
“I’ll take that trade off any time for a goal. I’ve had a bunch off of different parts of the body. First one off my face,” smiled Hyman, whose dirty goal production is like a salami sandwich next to the caviar goals that McDavid and Draisaitl so often score.
“Now we’re five games in,” Hyman said. “You don’t score every game in hockey. So you just have to keep — Woody is using the analogy of pounding at the rock. Pound at the rock and then it goes in. And then it’ll go in in bunches. And then other guys score, and that’s the way that you win in playoff hockey — getting scoring from all areas of your team.”
Five different players scored for Edmonton. That’s their calling card, and we’re still waiting for 104-point man Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to score his first goal of the series.
“I mean they’re a good team. They have some really skilled players,” said the dangerous Adrian Kempe, who scored his fourth of the series in Game 5. “We showed last game when we played our best that we can be aggressive and we can turn pucks over and go the other way. So that’s something that we have to continue to do but maybe wasn’t there enough tonight. ”
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a team that can score the next one the way the Kings can.
They went down 2-0, then scored. They went down 3-1, then scored again.
Finally, Bjugstad made it 4-2, and the Oilers’ power play hopped over the boards looking to put that final spike in the Kings’ coffin.
Edmonton’s powerplay has gone from an otherworldly 32.4% in the regular season, to a terrestrial 57.1% (8-for-14) in this Rd. 1 series. Hyman nodded home the second powerplay goal on the night, and ding dong, the Kings were dead.
What did L.A. coach Todd McLellan think of his team’s Game 5?
“Not good enough to win Game 2 of the regular season,” spat McLellan.
