Oilers’ struggles at even strength continue in Game 5 loss

LAS VEGAS — The Edmonton Oilers have the best power play in the history of the NHL, but it may not be enough to advance beyond the Western Conference Second Round if they are unable to supplement it at even strength.

They couldn’t find an even-strength goal in a 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 at T-Mobile Arena on Friday despite going 3-for-4 on the power play, including one goal during a five-minute major.

The even-strength struggles have them trailing 3-2 in the best-of-7 series and facing elimination heading into Game 6 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Sunday (time TBD; CBC, SN, TVAS).

“For sure, our power play is great, but you have to be able to score 5-on-5,” Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. “We just have to look at it and take care of that.”

[RELATED: Complete Golden Knights vs. Oilers series coverage]

Edmonton will be taking a long, hard look at its even-strength play, which has been the deciding factor so far in the series. Vegas scored twice at 5-on-5, then added another two on the power play, battling back from a 2-1 deficit with three goals in 1:29.

“I thought both teams didn’t generate a ton 5-on-5; they took two point-shots and scored,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. “We obviously didn’t generate enough 5-on-5.”

Through the first five games of the series, each team has 17 goals. The Oilers have nine on the power play, one short-handed and seven at even strength; the Golden Knights have 13 at even strength and four on the power play.

“I think that’s the name of the game for us right now, when we’re going 5-on-5, we’re winning games,” Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “Conversely for them, it’s the same thing. That’s the main point of this game. I don’t think it was won or lost in the penalty box. We scored three on the power play, we got two really quick ones and then a third one, but we have to be better 5-on-5.”

The Oilers converted on 32.4 percent of their power-play opportunities in the regular season, the best in NHL history.

In the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, it is converting at 47.4 percent (18-for-38), which is astronomical. But the power play traditionally supplements offense at even strength, not the other way around, which is something they have to figure out if they want to bring the series back here for a deciding Game 7 on Tuesday.

McDavid was asked if more can be done 5-on-5 to generate offense.

“Yeah, lots,” he said. “We’ll figure it out.”

Video: Eichel has 3-point night in 4-3 Game 5 win

Ekholm believes the Oilers need to do a better job of getting to the tougher areas. He played 26:51 in the absence of Darnell Nurse, who was suspended, and drew the major on Golden Knights forward Keegan Kolesar, which led to Edmonton’s third power-play goal.

“In my opinion, I think we can shoot a lot more pucks,” Ekholm said. “If we don’t shoot the puck, their goalie is going to look good. We’ve got to get bodies and pucks in front of the net. It’s cliché, but sometimes it’s simple things. We have to get more pucks, more bodies to the net and create some greasy goals. A tip here and there, a rebound or whatever.

“We know what we need to do, and we just need to execute.”

Eventually, the Oilers’ power play is likely going to come back down to Earth. Scoring on every other man-advantage seems unsustainable, even with McDavid and Draisaitl piling on the points. McDavid scored his fourth and fifth power-play goal of the playoffs in Game 5.

The Hart Trophy nominee, announced prior to the game, had 21 power-play goals in the regular season and won the Art Ross and the Rocket Richard Trophies as the NHL scoring and goal-scoring leader with 153 points (64 goals, 89 assists).

“You’re going to the scoring side, I would go that we gave up two 5-on-5 goals in what I felt was a similar manner,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “We had numerous chances 5-on-5 to convert, but I would go to the other side. I think the two games we won in this series we didn’t give up four or more goals. I would go to that side of things first.”

The Oilers won 5-1 in Game 2 and 4-1 in Game 4. But in their three losses, they have given up 15 goals.

“I think they got their share of power-play goals too; it’s a tight series, and I don’t think they’re dominating play at even strength by any means,” Edmonton forward Zach Hyman said. “It’s kind of that series where special teams means a lot, obviously, but you have to find scoring on 5-on-5 too.”