3 Keys: Oilers at Kings, Game 6 of Western First Round

(2P) Oilers at (3P) Kings
10 p.m. ET; TBS, CBC, SN, TVAS, BSW
Los Angeles leads best-of-7 series 3-2

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will play on the same line for the Edmonton Oilers when they look to extend the Western Conference First Round against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 6 at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday.
The Kings lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 following a 5-4 overtime victory in Game 5 at Edmonton on Tuesday.
McDavid, Draisaitl and Kailer Yamamoto were put together on a line in the third period of Game 5 and helped the Oilers rally from being down 3-1 to force overtime. McDavid (one goal, two assists) and Draisaitl (two goals, one assist) each had three points.
McDavid won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL scoring champion for the fourth time with a career League-high 123 points (44 goals, 79 assists) in 80 regular-season games and Draisaitl finished fourth with a NHL career-high-tying 110 points (NHL career high 55 goals, 55 assists).
"It's a line that I've played with a fair amount over the years and have had some success, and obviously looking for that tonight," McDavid said.
Kings coach Todd McLellan was asked if there would be consideration to change his lines and use centers Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault together to counter Edmonton's switch.
"There could be," McLellan said.
Los Angeles can win its first playoff series since the 2014 Stanley Cup Final.
The Kings defeated the New York Rangers in five games in the 2014 Final and have reached the playoffs twice since, prior to this season; they lost in five games to the San Jose Sharks in the 2016 first round and were swept in four straight by the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round in 2018.
"The series has gone up and down for both teams, but the fact we've been able to recover the past two games from where we were in Games 2 and 3 [6-0 and 8-2 losses] is a real good sign for our club," McLellan said. "But we're well aware that reproduction of our previous two games, 4 and 5, won't be good enough, and we'll be pushing the players, they'll be pushing each other to produce at a higher level in all situations. And if we do that, we'll give ourselves an opportunity."
Teams that lead a best-of-7 series own an all-time series record of 33-288 (.790), including an 8-1 record in the 2021 playoffs.
Here are 3 keys for Game 6:

1. Overcoming Nurse suspension

Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse will serve a one-game suspension in Game 6 for head-butting Kings forward Phillip Danault during the second period of Game 5.
In Nurse's place, Edmonton will move Brett Kulak up to its top pair to play with Cody Ceci and Kris Russell will play on the third pair with Tyson Barrie.
"The last couple of games of the regular season, me and Ceci got to play together so I think that was good for when a situation like this arises," Kulak said. "We're comfortable and just a little bit of experience goes a long way. We're ready to go."
Nurse missed the final four games of the regular season with a lower-body injury.

2. Fast start crucial

The team scoring the opening goal has won each game in this series, and there has not been a single lead change during any of the first five games.
In Games 1 and 5, when Los Angeles scored first, Edmonton rallied to tie each time but never took the lead; the Oilers eventually lost 4-3 in Game 1 and 5-4 in overtime in Game 5.
In the playoffs this season, teams are 29-10 when scoring first.

3. Pressure? What pressure?

There were differing opinions on which direction the pressure points to for Game 6.
"For me, when you walk into this building tonight, we understand where the pressure lies and pressure is quite clearly on the home team to try to close us out on home ice," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "Our thought process is not on the other team right now, it's on making sure that we have 20 players pulling on the same rope and ready to play for a full 60 minutes right from the opening puck drop."
McLellan saw it differently.
"There's internal pressure on us," he said. "We spoke about this before, we're putting internal pressure on ourselves. Other than that, and maybe I'm the only one that can speak to this because I've lived their bench and now I'm living our bench, it's completely different. Our pressure is what we put on ourselves. Their pressure, it's enormous throughout 'Oil Country' and Canada, and the superstars, and the media pressure, and where they've been and what they want to do."

Oilers projected lineup

Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Kailer Yamamoto
Evander Kane -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Zach Hyman
Josh Archibald -- Ryan McLeod -- Jesse Puljujarvi
Warren Foegele -- Derek Ryan -- Zack Kassian
Brett Kulak -- Cody Ceci
Duncan Keith -- Evan Bouchard
Kris Russell -- Tyson Barrie
Mike Smith
Mikko Koskinen
Scratched: Devin Shore, Derick Brassard, Olivier Rodrigue, Philip Broberg
Injured: None
Suspended: Darnell Nurse

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Adrian Kempe
Carl Grundstrom -- Phillip Danault -- Trevor Moore
Brendan Lemieux -- Blake Lizotte -- Dustin Brown
Andreas Athanasiou -- Rasmus Kupari -- Arthur Kaliyev
Mikey Anderson -- Matt Roy
Alexander Edler -- Troy Stecher
Olli Maatta -- Sean Durzi
Jonathan Quick
Cal Petersen
Scratched: Tobias Bjornfot, Gabriel Vilardi, Lias Andersson, Jordan Spence, Quinton Byfield, Jacob Moverare, Austin Strand
Injured: Viktor Arvidsson (lower body), Drew Doughty (wrist), Sean Walker (knee)

Status report

The Kings are expected to dress the same lineup they used in a 5-4 overtime win in Game 5 on Tuesday, but coach Todd McLellan left the door open for changes. ... Arvidsson, a forward, has been ruled out the rest of the series.