It’s safe to say the Edmonton Oilers are in a position they don’t want to be in. They dropped two straight on the road to the Los Angeles Kings to open the 2025 playoffs, one in which they were hoping for a deep run for a second consecutive year.

Make no mistake, that’s still within the range of outcomes for this team, but getting into a 0-2 count to kick things off is not where you want to be.

This team must avoid dropping the first three games of this series like they did in last year’s Stanley Cup Finals to the Florida Panthers — the first two on the road, and the third at home. We saw first-hand how difficult it was for the Oilers to get back into the Finals last year and while they willed it to seven games, it was too tall of a task for a fourth straight.

Things will look different for the Oilers tonight with Calvin Pickard between the pipes after two poor performances from Stuart Skinner. One could talk until their red in the face about the defensive blunders the Oilers have allowed, or the fact they’ve been dog-walked by the Kings’ power play, but the truth of the matter is they haven’t gotten a single big save in the first two games.

Skinner didn’t bail them out once. That’s a huge issue because you need to have a goaltender who can do that in the postseason. He did so last year for the Oilers, especially after he sat in Games 4 and 5 against the Vancouver Canucks, as between Game 6 against the Canucks and Game 7 against the Panthers, he posted a .914 save percentage.

Entering the crease tonight, Pickard will look to do what he did last year: give the Oilers some life and win a game.

They can’t look beyond what’s in front of them and think about a Game 4, 5, 6, or 7. If you don’t win Game 3, you can pretty much kiss the season goodbye.

So, how do the Oilers do that? Get back to the basics.

This team has played far too passively in the first two games of the series and facing early deficits didn’t help. Getting an early goal is going to be critical to give the fans in Rogers Place more to be loud about, but also so the Oilers can get the Kings on their heels.

Look what happened in Game 1. The Oilers got a quick one late in the second period, and were able to score four more in the third period. The Kings were rattled and the Oilers were absolutely rolling at that time. An early one tonight would also open up Edmonton to playing a more physical game, something we barely saw in the first two games.

Even from the Kings perspective I was expected a much more physical affair, and with the way the lines are set tonight, the Oilers will have at least one player on each line who isn’t going to hesitate to throw the body.

They need to get physical, they need to clean up their defensive play, they need to get a save, and they need to score some goals. Back to the basics is key tonight.

Draisaitl – McDavid – Hyman
Podkolzin – Nugent-Hopkins – Arvidsson
Kane – Henrique – Brown
Frederic – Janmark – Perry

Klingberg – Bouchard
Nurse – Emberson
Kulak – Walman

Pickard

The Oilers have gone from nuclear to supernova, loading up the top line with Draisaitl, McDavid and Hyman. It’s a desperation move, but the fact the Oilers will have the chance to get these guys out with the matchups they want is going to be key. Everyone else needs to stop the bleeding.

For the record, Kris Knoblauch said to not read into the defensive pairings too much. I would be stunned if Klingberg and Bouchard were took regular shifts together

Kuzmenko – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere
Foegele – Danault – Moore
Malott – Helenius

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Spence
Edmundson – Clarke
Moverare

Kuemper

The Kings are rolling with the same lineup they did in Game 2, going with the 11/7 look, though they really only played nine forwards and five defencemen. Malott played 5:50 and Helenius 3:50, while Spence played 8:50 and Moverare played 2:36.

GAME DAY PREDICTION: Calvin Pickard gives the Oilers a save percentage of .910 or better and Edmonton wins on home ice.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Draisaitl was held to a goal in Game 2 and McDavid was off the scoresheet entirely. They each end up with two points tonight.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins opens the scoring.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.