How the Oilers’ Defensive Pairs Performed in Round 1

Mattias Ekholm was relatively quiet offensively, shooting the puck less frequently than usual and recording just one assist. Despite his lack of individual impact on the scoresheet, he and Bouchard outscored the Kings 4-3 while playing mostly tough matchups. The duo also won on expected goals 3.66-2.86 and had a 60.64 percent share of the high-danger chances. 

Both players had an impactful series on both special teams and at 5v5. If Ekholm can maintain his excellent penalty-killing and regain some of the confidence he built on offence toward the end of the season, he can propel this top pair into the stratosphere.

Vincent Desharnais & Brett Kulak

The Oilers’ third pair of Vincent Desharnais and Brett Kulak had a lesser role in this series than many might have expected. They started playing more difficult matchups over the last two months of the regular season, but against the Kings, their deployment reverted to a clear-cut third-pairing role.

Despite the sheltered deployment, this wasn’t a particularly strong series for the Kulak-Desharnais pair, who had underwhelming possession and scoring chance metrics. They did manage to come out even in goals at 5v5 to the Kings, however.

Kulak had a couple of notable moments to build on, including a one-timed missle he scored in Game 2 and a nice drop pass to set up the opening goal by Evander Kane in Game 4. 

The extent of Desharnais’ positive impact in this series was limited to the penalty kill. He was the only defenceman with better on-ice numbers on the PK than Ekholm, and he led the team in penalty-killing TOI. Desharnais was arguably Edmonton’s most impactful penalty killer, not named Mattias Janmark, and it’s what makes him such a valuable asset. 

This third pair was fantastic for the Oilers for most of the regular season. It could have been a better series for the duo, but they found a way to make some positive contributions.

Darnell Nurse & Cody Ceci

The Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci duo has concerned me throughout the season, and this series didn’t do much to alleviate that. At 5v5, they were outscored 4-2 and had just a 42.66% expected goal share. Sure, it was a relatively quick series win for the Oilers, but some habits that continue to show up with this second pair could be a big problem against more talented offensive teams, and they need to be cleaned up.

What I’m primarily referencing is their defence off the rush. A few glaring errors from overly aggressive pinches led to odd-man rushes for the Kings, which we’ve repeatedly seen from this pair. Kopitar’s overtime winner in Game 2 happened when Ceci stepped up on Quinton Byfield in neutral ice, only for him to deflect the puck past Ceci. Nurse had a poor gap on Anze Kopitar, resulting in a breakaway. 

In Game 5, Nurse tried to intercept a puck in the neutral zone, but he was unsuccessful, leading to a Blake Lizotte goal on the ensuing two-on-one break for the Kings. It would be easier to forgive these errors if they didn’t each get outscored and out-chanced throughout the series while logging big minutes. 

Don’t get me wrong, Nurse and Ceci were excellent on the penalty kill, and it wasn’t as bad of a series as we saw them play last spring against the Vegas Golden Knights. The inconsistencies from this pair weren’t glaring enough to cost the Oilers too many goals against. The Kings are far from an offensive juggernaut, though, and both entry defence and puck retrievals have been problems for this duo for a long time. If I’m assistant coach Paul Coffey, I’d be looking for more responsible defensive play from them. Otherwise, there may need to be a different deployment strategy. 

Overall, the Oilers managed to keep the puck out of their net better than in past series against the Kings. They were much better defensively as a team and on the penalty kill, but some blueliners also have more to give. Now it’s time to see if they can step up and reach another gear against more offensively gifted opponents.