LOS ANGELES -- The Edmonton Oilers hope Evander Kane adds energy and John Klingberg can help on blue line in Game 2 of the Western Conference First Round against the Los Angeles Kings at Crpto.com Arena on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; FDSNW, MAX, TBS, SN, TVAS, CBC).
Kane missed the entire regular season because of surgeries the forward had to repair a sports hernia and knee injury on Sept. 20, and Jan. 9, respectively.
“It’s been obviously a long time since I last played a game, and it’s nice to get in and get an opportunity to contribute,” Kane said after the morning skate. “I was always very confident that I would be back to play. I was unsure when that was going to happen, and I’m looking forward to tonight.”
Klingberg has not played since the defenseman blocked a shot in a 6-1 loss at the Seattle Kraken on March 27.
The Kings are expected to use the same lineup after a 6-5 overtime victory in Game 1. They held a 4-0 lead in Game 1 and were up 5-2 in the third period before Oilers center Connor McDavid set up Corey Perry and Zach Hyman before scoring himself to tie it 5-5.
Phillip Danault won it for Los Angeles at 19:18 of overtime.
Teams that take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-7 series have a record of 353-56 (.863), including 266-34 (.887) when starting at home.
Here is a breakdown of Game 2:
Oilers: Jeff Skinner will be a healthy scratch. The veteran forward played his first NHL playoff game Monday after 1,078 regular season games. Skinner will sit out to make way for Kane. Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said the move was not indicative of Skinner’s play in his first playoff game; he instead wants what Kane can provide. On defense, Klingberg will replace Josh Brown, who had 10 shifts for 4:54 of ice time in Game 1. Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm (undisclosed injury) has been ruled out for the entire first round and Troy Stecher (undisclosed) is still out. Defenseman Evan Bouchard played a game-high 28:20 in Game 1 and had three assists. McDavid (one goal, three assists) and Leon Draisaitl (one goal, one assist) combined for six points in Game 1. McDavid (40 points; nine goals, 31 assists) an Draisaitl (32 points; 18 goals, 14 assists) have a combined 72 points in 19 playoff games against the Kings.
Kings: Los Angeles became the fourth team in NHL history to concede a four-goal lead in a playoff game but still managed to win Game 1. Kings coach Jim Hiller said the complexion of Game 1 could have looked different had they been able to capitalize on a two-man advantage for two minutes starting at 8:53 of the third for a puck-over-glass penalty to Oilers defenseman Jake Walman and an ensuing unsuccessful coach’s challenge. Edmonton scored twice with goalie Stuart Skinner pulled for the extra attacker after Los Angeles missed several empty-net chances. Adrian Kempe and Andrei Kuzmenko each had a goal and two assists in Game 1. It was Kuzmenko’s playoff debut; he had 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 22 games for Los Angeles this season after acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers on March 7.
Number to know: 22. Kempe leads the Kings with 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in 19 playoff games against the Oilers. The Los Angeles forward is one of five players (Mikey Anderson, Danault, Anze Kopitar, Trevor Moore) to have played every playoff game against Edmonton in the past four seasons.
What to look for: What impact will Kane have? He has not played since Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final last season. Can Darcy Kuemper play the same way for Los Angeles he did in the regular season? He gave up five goals on 25 shots in Game 1 after having a 2.02 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage in the regular season.
