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‘A big start is important’: Oilers aim to seize control in Game 5
EDMONTON — We knew it when the series started. If the Edmonton Oilers are going to get past the Los Angeles Kings in Round 1, they’ll have to win at least one game here at Crypto.com Arena — the toughest road rink in the NHL this season. The good thing is, through most of the four series over the past four springs, Edmonton’s record in L.A. is 6-4, with five wins in regulation. In the regular season over the past four seasons, Edmonton is 4-3-1 at Crypto, for a total of 10-7-1 heading into this critical Game 5. “We’re pretty comfortable here, that’s for sure,” said Brett Kulak, standing in a visitor’s dressing room in which the Oilers have celebrated a series win alongside some very satisfying victories over the years. “We’ve played a lot of hockey here, a lot of big games, and we found ways to get the job done. Personally, everyone’s had big moments and contributed at important times, and collectively as a team, we’ve had success here. “So that’s stuff you for sure lean on and find confidence in.” This series is turning into a true battle for control of the games. Los Angeles has, in three of the games, controlled more than its share of the opening 40 minutes, while Edmonton has undoubtedly been the better third-period team. Someone is going to flip that script, and that someone is likely going to win the series. “We’ve done a great job so far at different points of the series of being resilient and finding ways to keep ourselves in games,” said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, “even though we probably haven’t played the cleanest 60 minutes that we wanted to see so far. “Tonight, a big start is important.” /* if ( "1" == true && 'undefined' !== typeof window.getIndexAds ) { var so = {preroll:{1:{1:{siteID:191888},2:{siteID:191889}}}}; adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds( 'http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6372076261112&cmsid=384', so, permalink); } else { adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6372076261112&cmsid=384"; } */ adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6372076261112&cmsid=384"; var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes("cust_params"); var queryString=''; if(adServerUrl_result){ var gettheDUFI = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem("theRED_loc"); if(gettheDUFI){ queryString += "dufiid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; queryString += "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; var ppid = "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; } var DUFI_IP = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem("DUFI_IP"); if(DUFI_IP){ queryString += "dufiip=" + DUFI_IP + '&'; } adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + 'cust_params=' + encodeURIComponent(queryString) ); } $el.after( unescape("%3Cscript src=\"" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\" %3E%3C/script%3E") ); $( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( "#video_container-710441" ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: "1704050871", bc_player_id: "JCdte3tMv", //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6372076261112, is_has_continuous_play: "false", adserverurl: adServerUrl, section: "", thumbnail: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/6372076261112-1024x576.jpg", direct_url: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/oilers-impressed-by-bouchards-knack-for-stepping-up-in-big-moments/" }); }); Nugent-Hopkins has spent his entire career in Edmonton, and there likely isn’t a road building he’s played more games in over the years. “They’re never cheering for you, they’re never on your side,” he chuckled of the Kings fans. “But you get used to the ice, you get used to the feel in the building. Yeah, we have lots of experience in here.” The Oilers defeated the King
EDMONTON — We knew it when the series started. If the Edmonton Oilers are going to get past the Los Angeles Kings in Round 1, they’ll have to win at least one game here at Crypto.com Arena — the toughest road rink in the NHL this season.
The good thing is, through most of the four series over the past four springs, Edmonton’s record in L.A. is 6-4, with five wins in regulation. In the regular season over the past four seasons, Edmonton is 4-3-1 at Crypto, for a total of 10-7-1 heading into this critical Game 5.
“We’re pretty comfortable here, that’s for sure,” said Brett Kulak, standing in a visitor’s dressing room in which the Oilers have celebrated a series win alongside some very satisfying victories over the years. “We’ve played a lot of hockey here, a lot of big games, and we found ways to get the job done. Personally, everyone’s had big moments and contributed at important times, and collectively as a team, we’ve had success here.
“So that’s stuff you for sure lean on and find confidence in.”
This series is turning into a true battle for control of the games. Los Angeles has, in three of the games, controlled more than its share of the opening 40 minutes, while Edmonton has undoubtedly been the better third-period team.
Someone is going to flip that script, and that someone is likely going to win the series.
“We’ve done a great job so far at different points of the series of being resilient and finding ways to keep ourselves in games,” said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, “even though we probably haven’t played the cleanest 60 minutes that we wanted to see so far.
“Tonight, a big start is important.”
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Nugent-Hopkins has spent his entire career in Edmonton, and there likely isn’t a road building he’s played more games in over the years.
“They’re never cheering for you, they’re never on your side,” he chuckled of the Kings fans. “But you get used to the ice, you get used to the feel in the building. Yeah, we have lots of experience in here.”
The Oilers defeated the Kings 5-2 the last time they played a Game 5 in L.A. (1992 Division Semifinals). The Oilers trailed 2-1 heading into the third period of that game and scored four unanswered goals.
Historically, Edmonton has won all three of its best-of-seven series versus the Kings when the series is tied after four games.
Here’s how the Oilers will line up tonight.
RNH – McDavid – Hyman
Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Arvidsson
Kane – Henrique – Brown
Frederic – Janmark – Perry
Nurse – Bouchard
Walman – Klingberg
Kulak – Emberson
Pickard
And here is how the Kings skated this morning:
Kuzmenko – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere
Foegele – Danault – Moore
Malott – Helenius – Turcotte
Anderson – Doughty
Spence-Gavrikov
Edmundson-Clarke
Kuemper
Tale of the trail
The Oilers never led for a single second in Games 1 and 2 here, and did not hold a lead in Game 4 at home until Leon Draisaitl’s overtime winner. In all, they have led for just 29:25 through four games, not the recipe for winning a series.
“We’ve been chasing from behind a lot this series and (they’re) looking to change that,” Kulak said. “At the end of the day, we’re finding ways to win — and it hasn’t been the prettiest ways — but that’s sometimes the way it goes in the playoffs. I mean, all you look for is the wins.
“But definitely you want to come out, emphasize good starts, get out to some leads and put some pressure on them.”
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Counting on third-period comebacks means living dangerously, just as thinking you’ll average nearly five goals per game is likely a poor strategy. Heading into play tonight, the Kings (4.75 goals per game) and Edmonton (4.50) are one-two in playoff offence across the NHL.
“The mindset is to come up with a strong start and not trail early,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “When you have the lead, it’s a lot easier to play the game from there. It’s important for us to play with the same desperation and hunger that we have played with when we’re trailing.”
He sees scores coming down as the series wears on.
“I definitely would assume that goal scoring would go down. It would be pretty hard to think that it would stay as high as it has been through four games,” Knoblauch said. “I would imagine that there’ll be some 1-0, 2-1 hockey games later on.”
Going to the whip
In terms of ice time per game in these playoffs, Kings defencemen Mikey Anderson (27:46 per game) and Drew Doughty (27:16) rank third and sixth in the NHL, respectively.
The Kings have four D-men averaging over 22:30 per game, then it falls off to Brandt Clarke at 11:49. That led to questions for Kings head coach Jim Hiller regarding his usage of players after his team tired in Game 4.
“It probably had an effect in that game, but I don’t think it carries forward to this one,” Hiller said Tuesday.
Will he deploy his players the same way tonight?
“I hope so,” he said. “We were 29 seconds from winning (Game 4). You probably wouldn’t even have asked me about that if we’d have won the game, but we didn’t. We went into overtime, and we looked a little sluggish, so that’s a fair question.
“If we’re going to go to overtime, double-overtime, probably that won’t work out very well for us,” he said. “You always start with good intentions, but sometimes you have to react.”
Meanwhile, the Kings went 0-for-3 on the power play in Game 4. It was the first time they had been held without a power-play goal since April 7th. The Oilers went 4-for-5 on the power play in Games 3 and 4.
