LOS ANGELES — In the span of three days, the Kings-Oilers series has run the gamut.
First, we wondered if the Kings had it in them to smash the Edmonton curse. Now, with a power play that is percolating at 50% (5 for 10 in the first two games) after going 0 for the series a year ago, we wonder if a roster with two of the game’s very best offensive players can hope to contain the upstarts from L.A., or whether there are other, less pleasant surprises still in store for the Kings once the first-round series shifts north.
It’s the playoffs, this procession of adjustments and attitudes, secrecy over player health and the on-ice irritations and aggravations that grow over the course of a best-of-seven series.
And in this particular case it’s the frustration and angst that built up among the Kings and their fans over three straight seasons of first-round exits at the hands of the same team, and the mystery of what the Oilers will throw at the Kings when the series shifts to Edmonton for Game 3 on Friday night.
In other words, the hard part begins now.
The facts: The Kings held serve at home, where they were 31-6-4 in the regular season. They survived a fierce comeback in Game 1 for a last-minute 6-5 victory. And they mauled the Oilers in Game 2 on Wednesday night, a 6-2 victory that included power-play goals by Brandt Clarke (his first career playoff goal in just his second career playoff game) and veterans Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar.
The suddenly powerful power play has to be a jolt to those who watched this team in this series a year ago and came away shaking their heads at the Kings’ feebleness with the man advantage.
“Confidence, I think it’s the main thing,” Kempe said.
“Honestly, you know, we get Kuzy (Andrei Kuzmenko from Philadelphia) at the deadline, and Kuzy’s been great since ever coming here. You know, whether it’s a five-on-five or a five-on-four, you can tell he’s the guy that’s been playing down low there before. He’s really good in skill, makes a lot of plays, and he’s been working really hard with the puck, without the puck. He’s doing a great job and he is getting rewarded, so I think everybody on the team is really happy to have him.
“He’s been a big factor to why the power play’s been a lot better, too. But I think that, you know, you score some goals, you get confidence. I feel like we’ve kind of built off that as well.”
Don’t let anyone tell you momentum isn’t real, in other words. Consider that the Kings’ regular-season power-play efficiency was below average, 17.87 (37 goals in 207 opportunities) to the league average of 21.64 – the worst mark among the 16 teams that made the playoffs.
But here’s (maybe) the most important number of all. This is the first time the Kings have had a 2-0 lead in a playoff series since 2014. Remember how that season ended? Alec Martinez touched off a celebration in double overtime at the building then known as Staples Center, followed by victory laps with the Stanley Cup in tow.
It is way too soon – way, way too soon – to jump to the natural conclusion. But this is a refreshing change, not the least of which is someone else having to adjust to them.
Especially those particular somebodies.
“It’s playoff hockey at the end of the day,” said forward Warren Foegele, who was on the other side of this rivalry the last three years. Wednesday night he assisted on the Kings’ first two goals, by Clarke and Quinton Byfield.
“We saw that in the last game, just how intense and how the games sometimes go, but you know it’s been a lot of fun,” he continued.
Part of the Kings success Wednesday night, he said, was retaining their composure after the Oilers cut a 3-0 deficit to 3-2 with goals midway through the second period (Leon Draisaitl’s second of the playoffs) and early in the third (former King Viktor Arvidsson’s deflection past Darcy Kuemper). Instead of wilting the Kings responded with two by Kempe and Kopitar’s first of this postseason off a pretty cross-ice pass from Kevin Fiala.
Did Foegele sense any frustration on the part of his former teammates? If he did, he wouldn’t admit it. He answered the question quite diplomatically, such tact being another useful skill in a postseason series.
“You know, they’ve got some of the best players in the world on that team,” he said, an obvious reference to Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. “And we know that you got to be aware of when they’re on the ice. … They’re so dynamic. You gotta respect them. You can’t respect them too much, but it’s an opportunity for us to go against them. They’re obviously gonna make plays because they’re so good, but try to limit them as much as we can.”
Coaches practice diplomacy as well, sort of. Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch acknowledged that the Kings are “very hungry. They have a lot of belief. They play very well at home. … We can step up our game a little more.”
But that came moments after he sent a subtle message toward whoever will be officiating over the rest of the series, noting that of the five penalties the Oilers took in Game 1, “in my mind there should probably be two,” and of Wednesday night’s six, again, “in my mind, maybe two. It’s difficult for the referee to call those in that situation, but really frustrating with those getting called against us, and that’s all I’ll say.”
This is another ancient playoff strategy: Working the refs even before you know who they’ll be.
Maybe it’s wiser to look for additional ways to limit Kempe. Wednesday night Kempe and Kopitar – who with Kuzmenko make up what really should be known as the Special K Line – each had four points. The last time a pair of Kings did that in a playoff game? Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey in 1992, against their former Edmonton teammates.
Kempe now has seven points in two games. At this rate, this could be the moment that the rest of the continent discovers just how good he is.
“He’s one of the more underrated players in the league,” Foegele said of Kempe. “He’s a big body, good skater, has a great release and he plays hard. He’s physical and he’s got that bite to him that’s kind of annoying to play against, but he’s also a threat with the puck. So I’m happy to have him on our team.”
Translation: Kempe might not yet be one of the best players in the world, but this could be his opportunity to catch up.
jalexander@scng.com
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