How the Edmonton Oilers’ Defensive Pairs Performed in Round 1 – The Hockey Writers –

Another year, another Edmonton Oilers first-round series win over the Los Angeles Kings. The Oilers again took care of their division rivals, but this time, they did so while playing a much better defensive game than years past. In the last three seasons, the Oilers have eliminated the Kings in progressively fewer games, reducing their goals against, expected goals against, and scoring chances against each year.

How did Edmonton’s defensive pairs contribute to the team’s positive step forward?

Evan Bouchard & Mattias Ekholm

Evan Bouchard had a superb playoff run in 2023, leading all defencemen with 17 points in 12 games. So far, in 2024, he is putting on an encore performance.

Bouchard played a vital role in the Oilers’ dominant power play, a gigantic mismatch for the Kings’ penalty kill. He fired home the Oilers’ only goal in a 1–0 victory in Game 4 and finished the series with a whopping 9 points, tied with Cale Makar for most among defencemen in these playoffs.

In contrast to Bouchard’s impact on the power play, Mattias Ekholm was a clutch penalty-killer in this series. He finished third in ice time (TOI) on Edmonton’s perfect penalty-killing unit, and the team conceded just 26.59 shots-against per hour on the kill with Ekholm on the ice, the second lowest on-ice rate on the team. 

Mattias Ekholm was relatively quiet offensively, shooting the puck less frequently than usual and recording just one assist. Despite his lack of individual impact on the scoresheet, he and Bouchard outscored the Kings 4-3 while playing mostly tough matchups. The duo also won on expected goals 3.66-2.86 and had a 60.64 percent share of the high-danger chances. 

Both players had an impactful series on both special teams and at 5v5. If Ekholm can maintain his excellent penalty-killing and regain some of the confidence he built on offence toward the end of the season, he can propel this top pair into the stratosphere.

Vincent Desharnais & Brett Kulak

The Oilers’ third pair of Vincent Desharnais and Brett Kulak had a lesser role in this series than many might have expected. They started playing more difficult matchups over the last two months of the regular season, but against the Kings, their deployment reverted to a clear-cut third-pairing role.

Despite the sheltered deployment, this wasn’t a particularly strong series for the Kulak-Desharnais pair, who had underwhelming possession…