Built to win Cup, Oilers take 1st step thanks to resilience and firepower

Way back in the third period of Game 1, Vladislav Gavrikov dropped to all fours to disrupt Connor McDavid's dish to Leon Draisaitl's wheelhouse. The pass breakup on an Edmonton Oilers odd-man rush changed the direction of the series. Shut out to that point, the Los Angeles Kings surged up ice and scored to spark a multi-goal comeback.

It was only one play, but the sequence threatened to haunt the Oilers. That the Kings took Game 1 meant Trevor Moore's overtime snapper in Game 3 restored their lead in the series. It meant the Oilers were careening toward premature elimination when they trailed with a few minutes left in Game 4. It showed that icing two all-world scorers doesn’t guarantee victory, and it affirmed Los Angeles wasn't a walkover.

The Kings leveled up over the past year, strengthening the lineup that pushed the Oilers to seven games in the prequel to this matchup. L.A. traded for difference-makers at every position: Kevin Fiala up front, Gavrikov on defense, and Joonas Korpisalo in net. Plus, Viktor Arvidsson and Drew Doughty weren't injured this time around.

Plenty of hockey was played after Gavrikov's deflection. Momentum kept shifting. Edmonton bewailed stick penalties that were called and high puck touches that weren't. The noise ebbed when Evander Kane and Zach Hyman buried goals that saved the season, setting up Kailer Yamamoto to flick the floater from above the faceoff circle that bumped the Kings from the Stanley Cup hunt Saturday night.

Fortitude fuels long playoff runs. Being resilient and adaptable helped the Oilers oust the Kings.

Discounting empty-netters, Kane and Hyman had yet to score in the series when they beat Korpisalo to steal Game 4. Promoted to center the second line, Nick Bjugstad caused havoc in the Kings' zone and struck twice in Game 5. Klim Kostin's two-goal eruption and Yamamoto's late winner made up for Edmonton squandering multiple Game 6 leads.

Brilliant all series, Draisaitl recorded 11 points in six games and was on the ice for 19 of Edmonton's 25 goals. Incandescent last postseason, McDavid was slowed by L.A.'s mobile defense corps at times yet put up 10 points himself, including a pair in Saturday's madcap 5-4 win. The supporting cast's timely emergence propelled the Oilers to the second round, where they'll face the Pacific Division champion Vegas Golden Knights.

Before the playoffs started, theScore wondered if Mattias Ekholm, the defensive stalwart who debuted with Edmonton in March, would become this season's best trade addition. Korpisalo held the title for about a week. Unafraid to challenge McDavid when he slipped open into shooting range or drove headlong to the crease, the Kings netminder held him goalless at even strength until Saturday and boasted a .931 save percentage through Game 3.

Korpisalo's steadiness, combined with L.A.'s offensive punch, discombobulated Edmonton. Jack Campbell, the backup goalie whose save percentage cratered to .888 this season, relieved Stuart Skinner when desperation spiked in Game 4.

After Campbell shut the door, ensuring a three-goal deficit didn't snowball, Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft returned Skinner to the net for the commanding Game 5 win and narrow Game 6 closeout. Skinner made 40 saves Saturday, a new personal high in his sixth career playoff appearance.

The Oilers are deeper than they used to be. Skinner excelled as a rookie this season over 48 starts. Evan Bouchard, the NHL's top power-play producer in Round 1, is maturing into a force. Porous defensively in the 2020 postseason and unable to buy a goal in the '21 playoffs when McDavid rested, Edmonton added Kane, Hyman, Kostin, Bjugstad, and Ekholm over a two-year span to assist McDavid, Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and blue-line workhorse Darnell Nurse.

The defensive effort against L.A. was imperfect. Paced by Adrian Kempe's five tallies, 11 Kings scored in the series, depressing Skinner's save percentage to .890. The average shot that eluded Skinner at five-on-five was fired from 16.5 feet away, per Natural Stat Trick, signifying the Kings did damage in the low slot and by the blue paint. The Oilers blew three multi-goal leads and only killed 66.7% of their penalties.

Conversely and crucially, Edmonton's power play was dominant. Bouchard factored into eight of the Oilers' nine goals on 16 opportunities. Edmonton received 2.67 man advantages per game, the second-lowest average in the playoffs, meaning it could really light up a less disciplined foe.

Power-play goals from Alex Iafallo in Game 1 and Moore in Game 3 bruised the Oilers' record in playoff overtime. They're 3-10 in the situation in the McDavid and Draisaitl era.

Three teams - the 2017 Anaheim Ducks, the '21 Winnipeg Jets, and these Kings - inflicted multiple OT defeats versus the Oilers. Hyman's Game 4 snipe will be applauded in Edmonton for years to come if it reverses this trend.

Korpisalo and Gavrikov are free agents, but L.A.'s core will return intact for more kicks at the can. McDavid was minimally effective when he squared off against Phillip Danault's line and the Gavrikov-Matt Roy pair. The Kings attacked relentlessly and scored opportunistically, punishing miscues like Skinner's whiffed pass in Saturday's third period. They made the NHL's best offensive club and hottest team since March 1 look vulnerable, though Korpisalo's Round 1 save rate ultimately plunged to .892.

Scarred by past letdowns but bolstered by general manager Ken Holland's wheeling and dealing, the Oilers bounced the Kings without winning any blowouts. Last year, they spanked L.A. by six in back-to-back games. This round started uncomfortably, and that feeling rarely let up, but they finally finished the job, moving four wins closer to the ultimate goal. Vegas awaits.

Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.