Two goals from Dylan Holloway not enough for Oilers

If game one couldn’t have been drawn up any better, game two couldn’t have been drawn up any worse for the Edmonton Oilers.

Wednesday night’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Kings went about as poorly as one could imagine for the Oilers. Instead of getting up 2-0 as they did in game one, they faced a 2-0 deficit with five minutes to go in the first frame.

And while they were able to fight back, tying the game twice from being down 3-1 and 4-3, it just wasn’t enough. On a night where every bounce seemed to go the way of the Kings, it took all of two minutes for that to happen again in overtime.

Kings defenceman Mikey Anderson had dumped a puck from his own blueline towards the Oilers’ zone, where Quinton Byfield at the center line knocked it down. But instead of the puck heading into the corner, it landed right on the stick of a streaking Anze Kopitar, who wired L.A.’s fifth goal of the night past Stuart Skinner.

It’s not like the Oilers played poorly, but instead, it felt like every bounce that could’ve gone the Kings’ way did. On their opening goal of the game, Evan Bouchard went to bounce a puck off the wall to where forwards Warren Foegele and Leon Draisaitl were, but the two watched it go by as Kopitar jumped it at the blue line, eventually finding Adrian Kempe in the slot.

On their second, scored by Kempe, a Kopitar pass bounced twice before he was able to track it in the air, batting it in. Their third, scored by Drew Doughty late in the first, was an awkward play where Stuart Skinner said he expected a move, but that was thwarted by a strong backcheck from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Instead, the puck slid past Skinner. And then, there was the fourth goal: another play where a bouncing puck found its way through the bodies.

“Games like this where, again, you feel like the universe is against you, and the puck is just not working well for you and all these things, it’s a part of life,” said Skinner. “I’m sure we’ve all had those feelings before. It’s part of playoffs, too.

“The take away from tonight is just wash it out. I know who I am, I know my game, and I’m going to get back to work.”

Despite a sluggish first half of the game, the Oilers were able to turn it on and tighten it up.

That’s in thanks to Dylan Holloway, who scored his first two NHL playoff goals on excellent wrist shots that beat Cam Talbot.

Since his recall, his game has shown new life. His tenacity on pucks in all three zones has been apparent, but the young winger is showing confidence, too, something he feels he has a lot of.

“I’m feeling confident. I think playing with Janny and Sammy (Janmark and Carrick) there, they’re two great players,” he said. “They make some nice plays and make it easy for me. Credit to them, credit to our team for being so resilient, but ultimately, we didn’t get the win, so it doesn’t really matter.”