The mood Sunday morning in the Edmonton Oilers’ dressing room: positive.
Good-natured banter and smiles were among the businesslike demeanour at Rogers Place as players changed into their street clothes following the morning skate in preparation for Game 4 against the visiting Los Angeles Kings.
It’s the atmosphere you might expect following a victory in the previous game, precisely what the Oilers did Friday night in a 7-4 comeback decision over the Kings to notch their first ‘W’ in their first-round NHL playoff series.
But it’s also what you might expect of a team that’s been there before. And that’s these Oilers, too. They were in a similar spot two years ago against the same team.
With the Oilers down two games to one and the Kings leading by a goal late in Game 4 of 2023’s first round, Evander Kane scored with three minutes left to tie it and Zach Hyman iced it for Edmonton in overtime. The Oilers would go on to win games 5 and 6 to advance to the next round.
“Once you get to three (wins against), it makes things a lot more difficult,” Hyman told media after Sunday’s pre-game skate.
“(You’d be) on the verge elimination, so you’ve got to be able to battle back. A couple years ago, we’re in a similar spot, down (two games to one) on the road and down in the game. This team has the ability to battle back. It has the experience to know that even if you’re down in a game, the game’s not over and you can battle back and win that game. We’re pretty confident ... We want to have our best effort.”
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said he saw a better effort from his players in Game 3’s win, particularly on special teams. It’s a trend he wants to continue.
“We’ve got to continue to get better special teams. The fact that we had two power-play goals (in Game 3 is positive),” Knoblauch told media.
“We did give up two on the penalty kill, but I think there was a lot to build off of. The first part of those penalty kills, I thought they were about as good as we could have done. We’re going to have some breakdowns, but we need to shore that up.”
Hyman said he and his teammates need to focus on playing a “clean game.”
“I don’t think we played a clean 60 minutes (in Friday’s win), not that you ever will, but I think we can be better in all aspects – with special teams being a big factor – but at five on five, limiting the big one,” Hyman said.
“We’ve been in their zone a bunch. Last game, we were able to generate more than we had the first two at even strength. I don’t think we can continue to do that and limit the big, high danger (chances) the other way.”
