The Edmonton Oilers are the special teams kings around the league right now, and it’s not even close.

The hallmark of the Oilers the past few seasons has been an otherworldly power play. With the best player on the planet, another one in the top five, and arguably one of the best offensive defensemen in the game, the Oilers have all the pieces for a lethal PP. 

The deficiency on special teams has been the penalty kill. In recent years, it hasn’t been nearly as effective as the power play, and teams have been able to take advantage of a lackluster Oilers PK. 

This year’s playoffs has changed that narrative, however. 

Not only do the Oilers have an insane power play, their penalty kill is at the top of the league as well. 

Here’s how good they’ve been on both sides of special teams. 

Power play

The Oilers are currently operating at 53.3% on the powerplay, the best in the NHL by a wide margin. The next best team is the Boston Bruins at 42.9%, and no other team is in the 40s at all. 

It’s absolutely insane to have a power play that converts over 50% of the time. The benefits extend even further than just having a cheat code to score in the playoffs, something that is usually very hard to do. 

When the opposing team knows they’re basically guaranteed to get scored on when they take a penalty, the mentality changes on the ice. You can’t afford to go down a man, so you don’t toe the line as closely as you maybe normally would. It makes more sense to play softer hockey than risk taking a penalty. 

In the case of the Los Angeles Kings, they’ve done an awful job staying out of the box, penalized the fourth most this playoffs with 22 infractions. However, they’ve clearly adjusted after the first few games of the series, as they gave the Oilers an average of five power plays through the first three games of the series, and just one in Game 4. 

In terms of shot generation, the Oilers are creating not just a high volume of shots, but a high volume of quality shots. 

Power play	CF	SCF	HDCF	SF	GF	xGF
Raw value	55	33	14	35	8	4.7
NHL Rank	2	2	2	1	1	3

They rank first in power play shots on goal, first in power play goals, and third in expected goals. 

11 different players have registered a shot on goal on the power play. 

They come at you from so many different spots, it’s next to impossible for the Kings to manage. And in the case of defending Leon Draisaitl on the powerplay, even the spots one would normally feel comfortable leaving a shooter are dangerous.

Penalty kill

This is where the real fun is, in my opinion. The Oilers are boasting some of the best penalty killing in the NHL, a welcome surprise for a team often criticized for its defensive ineptitude. 

The Oilers are the only team in the playoffs that have not surrendered a power play goal against. They are operating at 100% on the PK, killing off all 11 Kings power plays. 

It’s a masterclass of defensive hockey, especially when you consider the fact that the Kings had the 12^th best power play in the NHL during the regular season, converting at 22.6%. 

By the numbers, the Oilers are top five across the board, but most impressively they are fourth in the league in total scoring chances and total high danger chances against. 

Penalty kill	CA	SCA	HDCA	SA	GA	xGA
Raw value	34	14	5	15	0	1.92
NHL Rank	5	4	4	5	1	4

Over four games in the series and 11 power plays against, the Oilers have only allowed a grand total of five high danger chances against. 

Compared to the 14 they’ve created on their own power plays, this is truly impressive stuff. 

It’s not just team defense that’s been solid though, Stuart Skinner has been tremendous in the net during the penalty kill. 

Stuart Skinner	GSAA	GSAx	HD Saves	Rebound Attempts Against
Raw value	2.62	1.92	4	3
NHL Rank	2	3	8	8

Skinner is second in the league in both major goaltending advanced metrics, goals saved above average and goals saved above expected. He’s made all four high danger saves he’s had to, and all three rebound saves as well. 

Skinner is a top tier goalie this year and it’s been huge for the PK. 

A tough out

Winning the special teams battle is one of the easiest ways to come out on top more often than not. Right now, the Oilers are the class of the league in this regard. 

A nice way to evaluate both sides of special teams together is summing the power plan and penalty kill percentages. Somewhere around 100% means teams are ideally breaking even. Anything above is a bonus. 

At 153.3% on this metric, the Oilers are far and above the best specials team in the NHL. If they beat the Kings in this series, every other team in the league should be scared to face the Oilers. There is no room for error when you play this team, and it would take a significant 5v5 edge to beat them. 

The Oilers have to be the toughest to beat out in the NHL right now. 

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Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire