Kings have to be nervous after blowing series lead
All of a sudden, the Edmonton Oilers hold a 3-2 series lead against the Los Angeles Kings.
On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli chatted about how the Oilers’ ability to play with more precision has led to their recent success.
Tyler Yaremchuk: The Oilers are heading back to home ice with a chance to once again close out the Kings. It’s been a series that has been filled with the over, with high-scoring game after high-scoring game and the Kings taking advantage of all of these Oilers’ mistakes. Last night wasn’t that. It was the Oilers showing they are the veteran-experienced team. They played their best game of the series. It was the first time they put together three competent periods. If I was in that Kings’ room going back up to a building where you have been eliminated in two of the past three years, it’s hard to feel good, even with how good Darcy Kuemper played.
Frank Seravalli: The Kings are swimming in the deep end of the pool now. I’ll be very surprised if they don’t lose four straight to close out this series. What did I say on the previous two shows? You had to feel good if you’re an Oilers fan because all you had to do was clean it up a little bit, and that’s exactly what they did in Game 5. It was surgical, forceful, and aggressive right from the opening puck drop. How many shots did they have in the first two periods? They were attacking the Kings like the confident team we have seen from the Oilers in the past. That game last night felt like so many games from last year in the same series between these two teams where there was a clear advantage and the ice was tilted in Edmonton’s favor. Kuemper played great, but guess what? On the other end, Calvin Pickard made the saves he needed to as well. Maybe a bit of a surprise start. I know you said you would’ve absolutely stuck with Pickard after Games 3 and 4, but also with the series shifting it would have been a natural inflection point to throw Stuart Skinner back in there. They ride with Pickard, and now they’re one win away from advancing in a most improbable fashion based on the way that the first three or four games played out, just because they cleaned it up.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here: