3 takeaways from Knights’ loss: Oilers’ fast start evens series

Keegan Kolesar swung his stick hard into the wall as he walked down the tunnel behind the Golden Knights’ bench.

The Knights were near flawless in Game 1 of their second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers. Game 2 on Saturday brought nothing but frustration.

Centers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisailt each scored twice, and the Oilers evened the series with a 5-1 win at T-Mobile Arena.

Edmonton responded to its first regulation loss since March 11 by jumping to a 5-0 second-period lead and keeping the announced crowd of 18,504 silent.

The Knights’ five-game winning streak was snapped. They had an opportunity to take the third 2-0 lead in franchise history but didn’t come close.

“They were a lot better than us,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “They were ready to play. We weren’t, for whatever reason.”

The Knights expected their opponent to punch back after winning 6-4 in Game 1.

The Oilers did. Hard.

Edmonton had a 4-0 lead after the first period, while the Knights had only four shots on goal. The Oilers went 3-for-6 on the power play. The Knights were 0-for-3 and gave up a short-handed goal.

It was a complete role reversal from Game 1, when Edmonton’s shortcomings at five-on-five negated a four-goal game from Draisaitl.

The Oilers took full advantage of their superstars’ brilliance this time. McDavid had two goals and an assist, with his second putting Edmonton up 5-0 with 8:17 left in the second period. Draisaitl scored his fifth and six goals of the series. Defenseman Evan Bouchard added a goal and two assists.

“The game was out of hand pretty quick,” left wing Reilly Smith said.

Edmonton’s impressive performance came to the detriment of Knights goaltender Laurent Brossoit. He was pulled after two periods after allowing five goals on 32 shots. He still made a few spectacular saves to keep the Oilers from piling on more. Goaltender Adin Hill came on in relief for his playoff debut and his first appearance since March 7 because of a lower-body injury.

The Knights got one goal from left wing Ivan Barbashev 1:36 into the third period. That thwarted a potential shutout for Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner, who finished with 30 saves.

“We honestly didn’t play very good,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “They took it to us.”

Three takeaways from the loss:

1. Power-play brilliance

The Oilers’ power play continues to torment those who take penalties against them.

Edmonton’s 3-for-6 night moved its efficiency to 5-for-9 in the series, 14-for-25 in the playoffs and 10-for-18 in six games against the Knights.

The Oilers, who set an NHL record by scoring on 32.4 percent of their opportunities in the regular season, have scored at least one power-play goal in each of their eight postseason games.

“They’ve got some dynamic players, and they got their cookies tonight,” McNabb said. “We need to be better.”

2. Draisaitl strikes again

What Draisaitl is doing this postseason is almost unheard of.

He has 13 goals in his first eight playoff games, which would have been tied for the NHL lead last season. He’s six goals from the all-time postseason record.

Draisaitl has 31 playoff goals for his career in 45 games. He required the seventh-fewest appearances in league history to reach 30 postseason goals.

3. Tension boiling

Tempers exploded at different points in the game.

Center Brett Howden and defenseman Brett Kulak fought in the neutral zone with 2:18 left in the second period, which led to another scrum in the Knights’ zone.

Kolesar was on the ice at one point, and right wing Evander Kane punched him with his glove several times in the midsection with referee Kelly Sutherland standing nearby. Kane was given a misconduct penalty after the play.

“The refs are just standing there letting him get hit, so it is frustrating for sure,” Knights captain Mark Stone said. “You never want to see a teammate getting suckered down like that, especially one that’s stuck up for his teammates all year like he (Keegan) has.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.