The Edmonton Oilers will be out for blood in Game 2 of the playoff series against the Los Angeles Kings after falling just short of an epic comeback in the first game on Monday, April 21. Team captain Connor McDavid’s individual brilliance saw the Oilers tie the game at 5-5 after initially going 4-0 down on the night, only for Kings forward Phillip Danault to score the game-winner with 41 seconds left on the clock.
Projected Lineups for Oilers vs. Kings l Game 2
The Oilers received a boost to their roster with the announcement that left wing Evander Kane would likely play in Game 2. Kane, who played a huge part in the Oilers’ run to the Stanley Cup Finals last season, has not played at all this season after undergoing multiple surgeries in the offseason. Recent acquisition John Klingberg, who missed the final 10 games of the regular season, might be available for the Oilers as well.
The team did not practice on Tuesday, but did have a media session. Captain Connor McDavid addressed the events of Monday night.
“I think our group maybe wasn’t quite ready to roll right away. They were ready to go,” Connor McDavid said via NHL.com. “I thought their first 40 minutes was really strong, and we weren’t able to match it. We raised our game in the third period and found a way to make it a game, but we’ve got to be ready to go right away.”
This is the fourth year in a row for the Oilers and Kings to face each other in the playoffs. Oiler coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters that the Kings’ two power-play goals made a difference on the night, but that the Oilers would have to raise their entire game to win.
“We knew that it was going to be a difficult task,” Knoblauch said. “LA’s playing really well, especially at home, but it was nice to see that we were able to break through and score some goals late in the game – something that we haven’t done very much of.”
Edmonton Oilers Projected Lineup
Forwards
Leon Draisaitl – Connor McDavid – Corey Perry
Evander Kane – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Zach Hyman
Trent Frederic – Adam Henrique – Connor Brown
Vasily Podkolzin – Mattias Janmark – Viktor Arvidsson
Defensemen
Darnell Nurse – Evan Bouchard
Brett Kulak – Ty Emberson
Jake Walman – John Klingberg
Goaltenders
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Scratched
Vasily Podkolzin, Jeff Skinner, Joshua Brown
Injured
Mattias Ekholm
Los Angeles Kings Projected Lineup
Forwards
Andrei Kuzmenko – Anze Kopitar – Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala – Quinton Byfield – Alex Laferriere
Warren Foegele – Phillip Danault – Trevor Moore
Jeff Malott – Samuel Helenius – Alex Turcotte
Defensemen
Mikey Anderson – Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov – Jordan Spence
Joel Edmundson – Brandt Clarke
Goaltenders
Darcy Kuemper
David Rittich
Scratched
Trevor Lewis, Akil Thomas, Kyle Burroughs, Jacob Moverare
Injured
Tanner Jeannot