Oilers dominant special teams leading to playoff success

Everyone is well aware of how good the Edmonton Oilers power play is, but their penalty kill is quickly becoming elite as well.

A struggling penalty kill to begin the season played a big role in Jay Woodcroft’s firing. With a success rate of just 70%, it was quite evident as to why the Oilers had just a 3-9-1 record prior to Kris Knoblauch being hired. Since he has taken over, things have improved drastically.

The Oilers finished the regular season with a penalty kill of 79.5%, good enough for 15th in the league. It seemed to steadily improve as the year went on, and has been lights out through the first four games of their first-round series versus the LA Kings.

No team in the playoffs has had special teams as good as the Oilers. They have converted on eight of their 15 power-play opportunities for a league-best 53.3%. Meanwhile, their penalty kill has been perfect, killing off all 11 chances the Kings have had on the man advantage. Thanks in large part to that, they have outscored the Kings 18-10 so far in the series, and have a 3-1 lead to show for it.

What makes this all the more impressive is that the Kings had success with their special teams during the regular season. Their penalty kill ranked second among all 32 teams at 84.6%, while their power play was 12th at 22.6%.

While the Kings will do their best to make some adjustments prior to Game 5 tomorrow night, the Oilers will have a strong chance at wrapping up the series if they are able to continue dominating both on the power play and penalty kill. Should they pull off a win tomorrow, they will face the winner of the Vancouver Canucks/Nashville Predators series, which could end tonight if the Canucks pull out a win on home ice.

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