BLOG: Oilers layover in La La Land

EL SEGUNDO, CA -The Oilers hit the ice on Monday for the first time since their Game 6 elimination win over the Los Angeles Kings last Saturday.

Rested and recovered, the work has begun to prepare for Wednesday's Game 1 in Las Vegas, but the Oilers have yet to depart for Sin City. Instead, Head Coach Jay Woodcroft and his staff have taken up temporary residence at the Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo, California as they devise and implement their strategy to take down the Pacific Division winners.

"We had a plan for what would happen when we won Game 6 and we just felt rather than putting the team on a plane ride all the way back up to Edmonton, and then have to come back down to Las Vegas, it made sense to base out of California," Woodcroft said. "We're thankful that the LA Kings made their practice facility available to us, and I just think keeping the group together, keeping our focus where it needs to be, I think it's been a good couple of days, and we have one more tomorrow."

The layover in La La Land is still a work trip, but not returning to Edmonton allowed for more time to be spent together as a team and less time spent inside an airplane.

"Even though these are two Pacific teams, these are not the shortest flights. I think anytime you can limit your time on the plane is obviously a good thing," Connor McDavid said. "When you're on the road there are no distractions. There's nothing that would deter you from focusing on what we have got to do. So, not saying that those things aren't good, but sometimes it could be beneficial. It's nice to get some sun, too. Edmonton, I heard, has been nice, but it's always nice to be by the water."

The Oilers have had a solid amount of rest time leading into their Round 2 series. By the time the two teams face off on Wednesday it will have been almost four full days since they last laced up their skates for a playoff game. Coming off a tough and physical matchup against the Kings, the extra time is certainly welcome.

"Yeah, at times it can beneficial," Leon Draisaitl said. "Obviously, you don't want it to be too long, you don't want to lose your stride, but it's nice to rest up, get healthy, and go back at it with another team."

"Yeah, we'll certainly be rested, they'll be rested too," McDavid said. "They've been off for a little bit, so both teams should be healthy and rested and have lots of energy."

As the Oilers captain eluded too, the Golden Knights have been on quite the break themselves. After dispatching the Winnipeg Jets in just five games, it will be almost a week since their last competitive matchup.

The Oilers coaching staff is using the extra time to parse through tape and find the Oilers a competitive advantage over the team that paced the Western Conference in the regular season. Edmonton had the advantage over the season series, with a 3-0-1 record against the Golden Knights, but the playoffs can be a whole different beast. Preparation on and off the ice is currently the team's task at hand.

"It's what we've been spending the last 48 hours doing. The coaching staff comes together, we make sure we do our work, we make sure we see it clearly, and then we pare things down and kind of piecemeal it out to our team over the next couple of days," Woodcroft said. "I thought today was a good day. It was important to get back on the ice."

"It was a work day," he added. "We worked through some things, and I thought we got what we needed. And now it's about putting tomorrow's day on top of this day-to-day stacking. A good day on top of a good day."

View all of the day's written and video content below:

WRITTEN

VIDEO

• Video: RAW | Jay Woodcroft 05.01.23
• Video: RAW | Jay Woodcroft 05.01.23
• Video: RAW | Jay Woodcroft 05.01.23
• Video: RAW | Jay Woodcroft 05.01.23
• Video: RAW | Jay Woodcroft 05.01.23
• Video: RAW | Jay Woodcroft 05.01.23
• Video: RAW | Jay Woodcroft 05.01.23