The Kings can earn a stranglehold on their first-round series with a victory Sunday or all but assure a decisive seventh game in Edmonton with a loss as they and the Oilers stand at an impasse ahead of Game 4.
The jubilation of Game 3 gave the Kings a 2-1 series lead after Thousand Oaks winger Trevor Moore popped the winner past Stuart Skinner early in overtime. The series has effectively featured all one-goal games, with the Kings’ Game 1 victory coming in OT and Edmonton’s Game 2 win concluding with a late empty-netter to extend the final score to 4-2.
“It’s fun hockey to play in because it’s (meaningful) on every shift,” said Kings winger Adrian Kempe, whose three playoff goals placed him one behind the league lead entering Saturday’s action.
The Oilers may be frustrated as they stare down a deficit in a series of tight games and close calls, including a controversial review on the winning goal in Game 2, but they hardly seem daunted.
“We’re playing well. We’re doing a lot of good things,” Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl said. “We’re definitely the better team for the bigger spurts. It just seems like we can’t score at the right times right now. We’ve got to regroup and find a way.”
Last season, Edmonton climbed out of two holes, 1-0 and 3-2 series deficits, only to triumph in Game 7. Yet by this point, they’d abused the Kings by an aggregate tally of 14-2 in Games 2 and 3, the sort of outburst they have yet to provide this postseason. In fact, the Oilers’ five-on-five game has been relatively feeble, accounting for the minority of their nine playoff goals, four of which came on the power play with the fifth being a five-on-six empty-net tally.
“Going back to last year, there were a couple games that were really tight like this, and there were a couple where we weren’t ready to go and they tapped us for I don’t remember how many. I think we’ve been doing a way better job (defensively),” Kempe said.
For the Kings, they’ve seen at least one star flanker step forward already in Kempe and now may have another waiting in the wings.
Left winger Kevin Fiala, the splashy trade acquisition turned substantive scoring force for the Kings, was one of just a few players on the ice for an optional skate Saturday. Though he sported a red non-contact jersey, it was a clear step in the right direction.
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Fiala’s status seemed to be interstitial between doubtful and questionable, with reevaluation at Sunday’s morning skate, for Game 4, but the sighting was the first encouraging signal to the public since Fiala (knee) last played three weeks earlier. There was no update on center Blaze Lizotte (lower-body), who missed Game 3.
“(Fiala) is an All-Star. He’s a great player, he can make plays and scare other team’s defensemen, so I think he’s a huge part of our team. He has been all year,” Kings winger Viktor Arvidsson said. “If he comes back, he would be a great addition to our lineup.”
Game 4: Edmonton at Kings
When: 6 p.m. Sunday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV/Radio: Bally Sports West (local); TNT (national) /iHeart Radio