Oilers aim to shore up penalty kill in Game 2 against Stars

DALLAS -- Mattias Janmark had realistic expectations for the Edmonton Oilers' penalty kill heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, having set the bar so high a year ago.

The forward knew it was unlikely the Oilers would have the 94.3 percent success rate of last season, but did not expect it to drop to the current 62.2 percent heading into Game 2 of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Friday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Dallas leads the best-of-7 series 1-0.

"I think we all knew coming into this year that we were probably not going to replicate last year," Janmark said Friday following the morning skate. "That was a run you go on one time, I think. But for sure, you want to be better and it's a huge part of the success you're going to have."

Dallas scored three power-play goals in a span of 5:26 in the third period of Game 1 to battle back from a two-goal deficit in a 6-3 win.

"I think so far in the playoffs, in the first two rounds, we've gotten off to bad starts and made adjustments and gotten better," Janmark said. "The last game, there was a lot of good, but it obviously cost us the game; we needed one more play on all of those kills and we didn't get it and it's the same mindset now, change little things, get better on the details and get better as the series goes on."

Edmonton went from having the top penalty kill in the playoffs last season to 15th among the 16 playoff teams this season.

The Oilers have allowed 14 goals on 37 opportunities through 12 playoff games. They gave up four on 70 attempts in 25 playoff games last season.

"I think throughout the year, there were very good runs and there were runs where we weren't very good at all," defenseman Brett Kulak said. "I think it's been a little bit more of the same -- maybe a little bit more condensed in the playoffs -- but a little bit more the same. We're just flushing the last game and getting back to what works, which is up-ice pressure and taking time and space in the [defensive] zone and we have to block some shots too."

Last season, Edmonton was 14-for-14 on the penalty kill against Dallas in the Western Conference Final, winning the series in six games. The Oilers ended this regular season 16th in the NHL on the penalty kill (78.2 percent).

"Obviously last year everything went right, this year during the regular season and right now, things have not gone as smoothly as we wanted," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said Friday. "Whether that's because of some bad breaks, pucks just going in the net when they shouldn't have.

"I think it hasn't been as good as last year, obviously the percentages say that, and there's things that need to corrected and executed when the guys are on the ice."

Edmonton is without a major component of its penalty kill in defenseman Mattias Ekholm, who has missed the playoffs with an undisclosed injury.

Ekholm is skating with the Oilers but will not play in Game 2. He was second on the team averaging 2:05 of short-handed ice time per game during the regular season.

"We know what we have to do, we want to be skating, put pressure, and put them in difficult situations when you can," Oilers forward Adam Henrique said. "All the guys on the penalty kill understand that and understand when you need to pressure and when you need to have that high-intensity and make it difficult on them."

Heading into the series, Edmonton scouted the Dallas power play, which is connecting at 34.9 percent (15-for-43) through 15 games and 46.2 percent (12-for-26) in eight home games.

Now, having seen it firsthand, Henrique believes Edmonton has a better feel for it.

"Once you're out there and playing you can pick up on certain guys' tendencies, when they're in certain spots," he said. "They have a lot of good players, they're going to make a lot of good plays, but you just have to try and limit those opportunities and limit those chances and try to put them in difficult positions to make those plays."