(Edmonton) The Edmonton Oilers showed that they can count on their defense to win. That doesn’t mean it’s what they prefer.
Edmonton leads the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 in this first-round series, after a 1-0 victory in Game 4.
The Kings, however, muzzled the Oilers’ offense, limited to 13 shots.
With a chance to reach the second round Wednesday night at Rogers Place, the Oilers hope to rekindle the dynamic offense they are known for.
“We want to attack a little more,” forward Leon Draisaitl said. This is our (identity).
“There is nothing wrong with how the fourth game went, but we need to attack a little more and give them a bigger challenge. »
League scoring champion on five occasions, captain Connor McDavid is already at 10 points, a high among the competing clubs.
Draisaitl has eight points and Zach Hyman is tied for the scoring lead with six goals.
Edmonton had seven goals in the first game and six in the third, both wins.
In the second game, they scored four times in an overtime loss.
Game 4, where Los Angeles dominated Edmonton 33-13, was therefore an anomaly.
“You have to be comfortable in these situations,” said defenseman Darnell Nurse. That said, we’ll probably want to dictate the game a bit more, as we’re used to. »
Head coach Kris Knoblauch doesn’t want to get into the habit of relying on defense, even though Edmonton limited the quality chances the Kings got.
“The shot totals were very lopsided, but they had few high-quality scoring opportunities,” Knoblauch said.
The Kings want to continue the same momentum, even if they did not get the victory in the fourth game.
“There’s always things you don’t like (in a specific game), but there weren’t many on Sunday,” Kings interim head coach Jim Hiller said.
“It wasn’t perfect, but we played as well as we have in a long, long time. »
Edmonton is 8 for 15 with the man advantage, while Los Angeles is scoreless in 11 on the man advantage.
Hiller, however, does not intend to make any changes to his personnel, to get the five-man attack going.
“It’s four games. In a season, we can find several passages of four games where the numerical advantage is not very effective, he mentioned. It’s amplified because we’re in the playoffs. »