Oilers need 'to raise our level of work' to avoid early hole in Game 2

LOS ANGELES -- The Edmonton Oilers left it too late, literally and figuratively, in their 6-5 loss to the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round on Monday.

The Oilers surrendered the first four goals of the game before center Leon Draisaitl scored with six seconds remaining in the second period. And though they were able to rally and tie the game 5-5 with center Connor McDavid’s goal with 1:28 remaining in the third period, forward Phillip Danault’s rainbowing mis-hit with 41.1 seconds to go left Edmonton with a defeat and 1-0 series deficit.

With some time to reflect on the frantic comeback and stunning defeat, McDavid said the Oilers understand it will take more than one period of strong play to get back in the series in Game 2 of the best-of-7 series at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; FDSNW, MAX, TBS, SN, TVAS, CBC).

“I mean, we’re tied with a minute to go. I guess we’re close,” McDavid said Tuesday. “That being said, they were the better team for 40 minutes, no doubt about that. They were solid. I thought they were just more desperate, more urgent than we were, I would say, in the first 40 minutes. We could definitely feel that right away, so we've got to raise our level of work and be ready to work.”

There is plenty for the Oilers to improve on, starting with their defensive structure and consistency. Danault’s first goal to put the Kings up 4-0 at 17:43 of the second came off a bad blind pass by Edmonton defenseman Evan Bouchard, and the error was magnified because forward Quinton Byfield and Danault were alone in the slot to capitalize.

On the winning goal, the Oilers were slow to recover on an odd-man rush, with forward Warren Foegele getting positioning in front to the crease to screen goalie Stuart Skinner, and no defenders able to get back in time to put a body on the trailing Danault.

“Tough to fault him on many of them,” McDavid said of Skinner, who made 24 saves. “What are you going to do when guys are standing in the slot by themselves, you know? Those are freebies that are tough on him. We've got to do a better job of protecting that area.”

Skinner took the blame for failing to provide better situational management throughout the game, knowing full well what the Oilers’ dynamic offense led by McDavid is capable of producing.

“I mean, we just ran out of time,” Skinner said. “Letting a goal (in), the sixth goal, you know as a team, that was just, obviously, not the time to do it. It was the time to just survive and get into overtime, but that stuff happens.”

This is not an unfamiliar position for Edmonton, having lost Game 1 in two of the previous three first-round series against Los Angeles as they meet for the fourth straight year. The Oilers recovered after losing the opener on home ice in 2022 and 2023 to win Game 2, and each of the previous three series have been tied 1-1 after two games.

Skinner expects Edmonton to draw on those experiences to come through with a more comprehensive effort Wednesday.

“We’re going into Game 2, we know what to do, we know what to expect. We know how to play it,” he said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean we know what result’s going to come our way, but it gives us a sense of confidence.”