Oilers' Smith admits he tried to 'do too much' on Game 1 gaffe

Mike Smith is fully aware of the impact his miscalculation had on the Edmonton Oilers' loss to the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Monday night.

"(I was) just trying to make something happen, obviously trying to do too much there," the Oilers goaltender said after his error all but gifted the Kings a 4-3 victory. "In a tight game, you can't afford to make mistakes like that. It ended up costing us the game and (I'm) obviously disappointed, but it's one game and we move on and worry about Game 2."

Late in the third period with the score tied 3-3, Smith controlled the puck behind his net and threw it up the middle of the ice. The Kings immediately intercepted it and nearly scored twice before burying the eventual winner moments later.

"No one would've thunk we would've won 16 straight (in the playoffs), so I think it's an (example of) adversity early in the series, but it's nothing we haven't dealt with before, and I'm sure we'll have to deal with it again on the journey here," Smith said.

Interim head coach Jay Woodcroft believes the miscue was uncharacteristic of the club's recent play.

"In the end, we made some mistakes that we haven't made over the last two months or so," the bench boss said. "(There are) areas that we can clean up, for sure."

Woodcroft also mentioned that Smith wasn't the only one responsible for allowing the Kings to score the winner.

"Obviously, Mike would like to have that puckhandle back, but there was other stuff on that play too that I think we can handle a little bit better," the head coach said. "He's done a good job of making big saves for us over time, and we want to make sure we can clean up some of those areas."

Smith has now lost 10 straight playoff games, including all six he's played with Edmonton. The 40-year-old has a paltry .898 save percentage in those 10 contests and a mark of .892 with the Oilers in the postseason.

After signing Smith to a pair of one-year deals, the Oilers re-upped the veteran on a two-year contract carrying a $2.2-million cap hit last summer.