Angeles Analysis – Game 2

For awhile, there were some real similarities between Games 1 and 2, weren’t there?

Two starts that came with a lot of intensity that saw the teams engaged in a feeling out process in the early stages of the game. Then came a power-play opportunity for the Kings and while it wasn’t quite as quick or quite as crisp as Game 1, the Kings opened the scoring on the man advantage within the first 10 minutes of the game, taking the lead once again, in the same manner as Monday evening.

Then came the second period and, once again, I thought the Kings elevated their game, as they did in Game 1.

Collectively, in the first period over the two games, Edmonton led 12-10 in scoring chances, 5-on-5. In the second period? Scoring chances are 15-10 Kings. In both games, the ice started to tilt in the other direction during the middle stanza. After the Oilers nearly doubled up the Kings in shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes, Los Angeles recorded 12 of the first 13 shots on goal in the second, as they seized control of the game.

Once again, the Kings controlled the play in the second period for nearly the entire frame. They opened up a 4-0 lead in Game 1 and a 3-0 lead last night in Game 2. However, just as in Game 1, a late Edmonton goal opened the door for the Oilers. As did a goal early in the third period. With a 3-2 Kings lead and 15 minutes to play, that’s where the similarities ended.

Whereas Game 1 went off the rails late, as Edmonton ultimately came back to tie the game, Game 2 became a statement.

Oilers Head Coach Kris Knoblauch pointed to “mistakes gift wrapping opportunities” after the game last night. He certainly didn’t give the Kings a ton of credit for finishing those opportunities, which is a pretty important part of the process, but in a 3-2 game, another one of those moments presented itself, to the player Edmonton would least want to receive it.

A turnover deep in the Oilers’ defensive zone, one pass later and suddenly Adrian Kempe is all alone in a high-danger area. Cash money.

More to come on Kempe later in the day but man does that guy raise his game come the postseason. He made it 4-2 and after the Kings scored again on the power play, Kempe made it 6-2 with another patented top-shelf snipe, this time from the left-hand circle. 14 goals in 20 playoff games against Edmonton and seven points in two playoff games this season, the most in the NHL. If it was possible, we’re seeing another level to Kempe’s game come the postseason. Big player, stepping up in another big moment.

It was more than just one guy, though. The third period saw a pretty drastic shift in favor of the Kings. After allowing six high-danger chances in Game 1, the Kings limited Edmonton to just two in Game 2. They actually had fewer chances themselves but when they got their biggest looks, they cashed in. After a 5-on-3 went begging in Game 1, the Kings got the insurance goal they needed on the man advantage yesterday, with Anze Kopitar burying a threaded pass from Kevin Fiala. Two Grade-A looks for Kempe and he buried both, one on each Edmonton goaltender. That’s how you get the job done.

If there were questions about the way the Kings could close out a game against this team, I think they put them to bed in Game 2. Doesn’t mean it’ll happen like that every game. But to shut that one down the way they did, while expanding their lead in the process, that was LA Kings hockey. And in doing so, the Kings did something that no team in this series has done over the past three seasons – take a 2-0 lead.

I don’t think anyone thinks this series is over. Not by any stretch. Connor McDavid had zero points in Game 2. Just once over the last five seasons has he gone consecutive playoff games without a point – Games 6 and 7 of last season’s cup final. He’ll get his. Leon Draisaitl has goals in both games but hasn’t yet felt quite as dominant as he’s been, in scoring 17 goals in 18 playoff games versus the Kings entering the season. And the Oilers are now heading home, which should give them life in a building they went 8-4 in during last year’s postseason. The Kings won’t have any issue respecting the team that knocked them out of the postseason three years running and I can’t imagine the Oilers will be lacking confidence on home ice, knowing the cliché that a series doesn’t start until you lose at home. But they won’t respect them too much, understanding their style and level of play has given them the opportunity they’ve deserved through two games. Go to Edmonton and get one victory and you’re coming home with an opportunity to clinch the series. Right now, the focus is just on Game 3. It’ll be different. I mean, there probably won’t even be any harmonicas. But the opportunity doesn’t change and neither does the objective.

As Anze Kopitar put it after the game, now they head to Edmonton to try and “steal” Game 3. They do so with momentum, certainly, but the playoffs is about a short memory, win or lose. You often ask the age-old question about “never too high, never too low” when it comes to losing a big game, or being on a losing streak. Here, it’s got to apply after a couple of victories. The Kings performed well last night. They enjoyed it for the day. But now the focus shifts. It’s onto Edmonton, as Bill Belichick might say if he coached this team. It’s off to Edmonton with a series lead in hand and several players and facets of the team clicking. But it’s still off to Edmonton. And that’s the essence of where we’re at this morning.

Enjoy it, Insiders, because this start has already been a bit different. But don’t enjoy it for too long, because the next game is the most important one. Such is life in the playoffs, with the job for the Kings now halfway done here in Round 1.