Mattias Janmark scored the third-period game-winning goal to give the visiting Edmonton Oilers a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday and put them one win away from advancing in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Evander Kane and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for the Oilers in yet another comeback victory, which gives them a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series.
Edmonton goaltender Calvin Pickard made 21 saves.
Leon Draisaitl collected an assist to tie a franchise record with his 19th consecutive playoff game against the Kings with a point. He has netted 17 goals and 19 assists in that run.
“Down 2-0, we didn’t play too well the first 3 1/2 games, but we found something in the later half (of Game 4) and kept on building,” Janmark told Sportsnet. “And now we have the toughest task ahead of us.”
The Oilers will try to close out the series Thursday at home. Edmonton is looking to knock out the Kings in the first round for the fourth consecutive year.
Andrei Kuzmenko scored for the Kings, who have lost three consecutive games.
“We’re all frustrated with the effort we gave,” Los Angeles defenseman Joel Edmundson said. “Throughout the whole season, we’ve been playing hard at home, we love playing in front of these fans. Huge game for us and we come out like that, yeah, it’s frustrating.”
Darcy Kuemper, one day after being named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender, gave his club a chance with a 43-save performance.
With overtime on the horizon, Janmark’s second tally of the series gave the Oilers their first lead of the game at 7:12 of the third period. Kuemper made a save, but the rebound came to Janmark in the left circle, and he immediately buried the chance.
Nugent-Hopkins iced the game with a final-minute empty-net goal.
Edmonton outshot the Kings 13-10 in the third period.
In keeping with the theme of the playoffs, the Oilers erased a deficit to win again.
“We found something in that last game and carried it over into this game,” Oilers left winger Zach Hyman said. “We have a huge opportunity to close it out at home. Now, that’s our mindset.”
After a scoreless opening frame in which Edmonton outshot the hosts 19-4, Kuzmenko’s power-play goal opened the scoring at 3:33 of the second period.
Los Angeles has scored eight man-advantage markers in the series, three by Kuzmenko.
Kane tied the clash three minutes later with his second of the playoffs, finding the twine right after an unsuccessful power play with a shot from the slot that ricocheted off a defender’s stick.
The Oilers held a 33-12 edge in shots after 40 minutes.
“They were just better, in every way,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said.
–Field Level Media
