Smith makes 30 saves, Oilers rebound to shut out Kings in Game 2

EDMONTON --Mike Smith made 30 saves for the Edmonton Oilers in a 6-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 2 of the Western Conference First Round at Rogers Place on Wednesday.

The best-of-7 series is tied 1-1. Game 3 is at Los Angeles on Friday.
Smith bounced back after his turnover in the third period of Game 1 led to the Kings' winning goal in a 4-3 victory.
"To be honest, I didn't really feel too bad in Game 1. I made one bad play and it cost us the game," Smith said. "I think I just carried the same kind of mindset into tonight and wanted to put in a good showing, especially after you feel like maybe you're the cause of a loss. I feel like a bounce-back is always important, and tonight the team played more up to their capabilities and how we're able to play, and we got rewarded because of it."
RELATED: [Complete Oilers vs. Kings series coverage]
Evander Kane had two goals and an assist, Ryan McLeod had a goal and an assist, and Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard each had two assists for the Oilers, the No. 2 seed in the Pacific Division. It was Smith's fifth Stanley Cup Playoff shutout.
Jonathan Quick made 30 saves for the Kings, the No. 3 seed in the Pacific.
"We didn't play hard enough, really," Los Angeles captain Anze Kopitar said. "We got some power-play opportunities, and we couldn't convert and they did. It was a big turning point in the game and we couldn't really get going."

Leon Draisaitl scored at 1:22 of the second period on the power play to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. He took a pass from Tyson Barrie and scored on a one-timer from the right face-off circle.
Darnell Nurse made it 2-0 with a shorthanded goal at 6:03. He jumped into an odd-man rush, took a pass from McDavid, and his shot deflected in off the stick of Kings forward Arthur Kaliyev.
"They've got a good power play and they were cashing in on it tonight," Kings defenseman Matt Roy said. "A penalty right off the hop in the second and a shorthanded goal there. It's tough to come back from there."
McLeod extended the lead to 3-0 at 16:05 when he redirected a point shot from Bouchard.
"We were patient, we didn't try to force anything, we kind of just waited for opportunities to open up, and when they came, we made the most of them," Nurse said. "It's important to keep playing the same way because that's a good team in LA that works hard every night and doesn't give up much."

Kane scored at 3:02 of the third period to make it 4-0. He took a long pass from Duncan Keith and had the puck bounce off his stick and up in the air, where Kings defenseman Sean Durzi inadvertently knocked it into his own net. Jesse Puljujarvi scored 21 seconds later for a 5-0 lead at 3:23, converting a pass from McDavid in front.
"Sometimes you tip your hat to the opposition, they played a really good game," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "Secondly, that's called 'experience' tonight. A lot of guys had their eyes opened up in terms of what playoffs is all about, and others were reminded to what playoffs are all about. It happens in series. It happens more often than you think. We have to go home now, recover, get some rest and we can play better than that, we know that."
Kane scored on the power play at 11:55 on a shot from the right face-off circle for the 6-0 final. Edmonton was 2-for-4 on the power play and Los Angeles was 0-for-4.
"I thought we played a strong first period, had two big penalty kills that settled everything down for us," Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. "We had two good scoring chances that we didn't convert, but we stuck with it. The second period was a breakout period for us, and it was led by our leaders, who went out and scored a huge power-play goal and kind of broke the ice for us. It was a strong game, 20 players deep, in our lineup tonight."
NOTES: Smith had lost his previous 10 playoff games, five in overtime, and had not won since his last shutout, April 11, 2019, when he was a member of the Calgary Flames. … Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson did not play for the second consecutive game for undisclosed reasons. Arvidsson has not skated since leaving practice early Saturday … Smith became the 10th goalie age 40 or older to have a shutout in a playoff game. The last to do it was Dwayne Roloson with the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. ... Edmonton ended a seven-game playoff losing streak, dating to the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers against the Chicago Blackhawks. … Kings forward Trevor Moore had a game-high eight hits.