The usually lethal Edmonton Oilers power play has been neutralized so far in the Stanley Cup Final, failing to convert on seven opportunities.
Captain Connor McDavid said the Oilers need to counter the Panthers' aggressive penalty kill by abandoning some structure and letting their instincts take over.
"We call it playing road hockey," McDavid said. "We've got to be elite at that."
Edmonton's power play has operated at 32.8% during the postseason, second only to the Colorado Avalanche, who were bounced in Round 2. McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins rank one through four among postseason skaters in power-play points. Zach Hyman ranks tied for second with five power-play goals.
The Oilers have led the league in power-play percentage three times in the past five seasons. They've never finished worse than fourth in that span.
"The power play has been together for a long time and we've been great at what we do," McDavid said. "We usually solve penalty kills, and I would expect us to figure this one out, too."
Florida's penalty kill has been excellent, though, killing off 89.7% of power plays this postseason - second only to Edmonton's 93%. The Panthers' PK ranked sixth during the regular season.
The series shifts to Edmonton for Game 3 on Thursday. Darnell Nurse is expected to play despite logging just 4:20 in Game 2 while playing through an apparent injury. Corey Perry is also expected to draw back into the lineup up front, though it's unclear who would come out. Evander Kane notably appeared to be laboring in Game 2.
