Oilers need return of potent power play for Game 5 bounce back

EDMONTON — Stacked with two of the NHL's top talents, the Oilers' power play is nothing short of lethal.

But stagnant special teams proved costly for Edmonton in Game 4 of its first-round matchup with the L.A. Kings on Sunday.

For the first time in the series, the Oilers failed to score with the man advantage and dropped a 4-0 decision to the Kings, tying the best-of seven series at 2-2.

Every part of Edmonton’s game needed improvement on Sunday, said centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

"It's the same thing across the board — power play, penalty kill, five-on-five. It's just about working. We have to outwork those guys," he said.

"They were working on their penalty kill and didn’t give us as many looks. When we had some looks, (goalie Jonathan) Quick stood in there. Same thing five-on-five — we have to find a way to break them down."

Led by Connor McDavid, the NHL's leading scorer, Edmonton was dominant with the man advantage through the regular season, finishing the campaign with the third-best power play in the league (26 per cent).

The dynamic group seemed to find yet another gear early in the post-season, going 5 for 11 through the first three games.

Even in a 4-3 loss to L.A. in Game 1, Edmonton took the special teams battle, scoring twice on the power play and successfully defending four penalties.

“It seems that special teams in these first couple games throughout the league have been very important,” said winger Evander Kane.

"The other night we won the special teams battle lost (Game 1) and that doesn't happen very often. (In Game 2) we did a great job again, and that's going to have to be continued throughout the rest of our journey here."

The Oilers’ penalty kill has also clicked in the playoffs, denying L.A. on all