Oilers’ Kane a valuable asset against a team like Kings, but Holloway is too

EDMONTON — One of the key lineup issues for the Edmonton Oilers — and their always instructive fan base — revolves around how to fit energetic winger Dylan Holloway into the Game 1 lineup Monday against Los Angeles.

With Evander Kane revealing that “he’s not sure” if he’ll be able to go in Game 1, the door is wide open for the hard-charging rookie Holloway to continue to stake a claim to an everyday lineup spot here.

“I’ve been dealing with a sports hernia for most of the year,” Kane revealed Sunday, after practising on the fourth line. “I thought it would be a good idea to take a week off before the playoffs, to see how I could feel.”

Kane’s a middle-six left winger on this team all day long. In a season where he nursed a fairly serious injury, he still managed 24 goals and led his team with 250 hits (sixth in the NHL).

Against a Kings team that demands you dump pucks in, then pound on Drew Doughty and his fellow blue-liners as they retrieve pucks, Kane is a valuable asset. That’s his game.

However, Holloway can do all of that — minus Kane’s penchant for scoring playoff goals. And perhaps he’s ready to provide a little offence, with two goals and five points since coming up for the last five games of the season.

“The way Dylan's playing it does give us some flexibility with our lines,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “Dylan has been playing outstanding, with his energy, his tenacity, being able to break up plays with his forechecking and contributing a little bit offensively. That yeah, that's a nice addition for our team right now.”

Here’s how the Oilers looked at practice on Sunday:

Henrique – McDavid – Hyman

RNH – Draisaitl – Foegele

Holloway – McLeod – Perry

Kane – Carrick – Janmark

(Gagner – Ryan – Brown)

Ekholm – Bouchard

Nurse – Ceci

Kulak – Desharnais

(Stecher)

Skinner 

(Pickard)

•••

Third Time's A Charm?

The obvious storyline here is the fact these teams are meeting for the third time in three years in Round 1.

Asked if there was anything his Oilers didn’t know about the Kings, Connor McDavid laughed. “No, there should be no surprises here. We know what they want to do. They know what we want to do. So it’s just about who's going to do it better.”

Edmonton wants to play a fast game with maximum puck possession, employ an offensive zone cycle and push the Kings' defence with a decent forecheck. Generally, the Oilers are the opposite of what we’d call a “volume shooting team” like L.A. has been in past years. They hang on to pucks as long as they can.

The Kings traditionally try to avoid a track meet and plug up the neutral zone, forcing Edmonton to dispossess itself of the puck by reverting to a dump and chase game. The Kings want to steal pucks and transition quickly, get a lead, and then further exploit an opponent who takes chances while trying to come back in  a game.

If McDavid doesn’t see the 1-3-1 defensive system from the Kings in Game 1, “I would be shocked,” he said, the day before he and Leon Draisaitl skate out for their 50^th career NHL playoff games.

We’d pose the question, which is a more daunting task: Beating a team three springs in a row? Or, beating a team in the third meeting, after they beat you in seven games in 2022 and six in 2023? Then three out of four times this regular season?

“Every series writes its own story,” said Leon Draisaitl. “I'm sure there will be certain surprises at certain moments, but we know their team well and it goes both ways.

“They're a hard team to play against,” he said. “They make it muddy, and it's a grind. So it's going to be a tight, tight-checking, good series.”

•••

All the Kings’ Men

One major addition to this series is Quinton Byfield.

A year ago he was a bit player for L.A., scoring one goal in the six-game series. Today, he’s coming off a breakout season (20 goals, 55 points)

“He’s been probably our most consistent player through the whole year,” said veteran winger Viktor Arvidsson. “He had a slump at the end, but he’s a young player and if you look at him as a player, he’s grown since last year when we played Edmonton. I think he can have a really positive impact on how we play.”

Drew Doughty doesn’t care who the Kings are playing. He’s just happy to be back for another run at his favourite time of year. 

“I woke up this morning I was pumping the tunes in the car on the way to (practice). I was just pumped up. I had a different type of energy this morning than I’ve had in the last couple of months,” Doughty said. “It’s playoff time, it’s the best time of year, the most exciting time. This is what counts. So, I’m just super excited and anxious to get the game going.”

Here’s how the Kings lined up at Sunday’s practice before flying up to Edmonton:

Laferriere – Kopitar – Kempe

Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Fiala – Lizotte – Lewis
Byfield – Dubois – Grundstrom
(Kaliyev)

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Spence
(Moverare)

Talbot

(Rittich/ Dell)

•••

Starting On Time

The Oilers haven’t won a Game 1 since Apr. 26, 2017, when they beat Anaheim on the road to open their Round 2 series. Since then, they’ve opened seven straight series with a Game 1 loss.

“It's something that's been a struggle for our group for whatever reason. I wish I could pinpoint what it was,” McDavid admitted. “We've played well in Game 1’s and just not got it done. I thought last year we played a really, really good game against L.A. and lost in overtime to, maybe, a couple of calls. But that's playoff hockey. You’ve got to find a way to close it out.”

“(Game 1’s) are important,” added Matias Ekholm, “but not the end of the world.”