LOS ANGELES — In less than 20 minutes Friday night, the Los Angeles Kings got a stinging refresher of a sobering truth. The gap between them and the Edmonton Oilers is as wide as the topography that forms Malibu Canyon.
The Kings walked into their dressing room with a 3-0 deficit after one overwhelming Edmonton period and it never got any better in Game 3. By the end of a 6-1 rout, their composure was lost and they were left to pick up the pieces of a second blowout in a series they’re only in thanks to some overtime heroics.
Just as Game 2 was a must-win for the Kings following a one-sided loss, Game 4 on Sunday will be. Except the stakes are only heightened as they try to avoid facing elimination in a return trip to Edmonton.
“It is the same thing,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “People were talking after the last game, and I said what I know for sure it’s one game to one. No different tonight. What I know for sure is it’s two for them and one for us. And you need to win four in a series.
“We’ll have a similar approach. We’ll get back and we’ll have to play better than we did tonight. That’s the bottom line. Just like Game 2.”
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What is becoming inescapable is the Oilers’ best are better than the Kings’ best and when they’re operating at peak form, they’re a potential Stanley Cup contender that the Kings simply aren’t. At their best, the Kings can be a game opponent and throw a wrench into things as they did in Game 2 when their top players all scored in an inspiring 5-4 win.
But even if Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty are bonafide franchise legends and Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala are dynamic talents and offensive leaders, they’re not Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — current superstars who are in their prime. If they’re not at their best, which was plainly evident Friday, and if McDavid and Draisaitl are getting support from Zach Hyman in his dream season and from Evander Kane stepping up as a secondary performer, then there isn’t much of a chance.
This one was effectively decided in a first period that sapped any energy the crowd at Crypto could have provided. The Oilers’ big guns fired right away. At 6:42, Hyman put in his own rebound at the net after Mattias Ekholm intercepted a bad pass by Doughty in his own zone. At 15:36, Draisaitl built on the early lead on a nice reverse pass from Kane as he moved behind the net and drew the Kings’ attention his way. At 18:34, McDavid jammed a puck through Cam Talbot as the Los Angeles goalie couldn’t secure his post.
PL Dubois and Quinton Byfield drew Oilers penalties in the first, but the Kings’ dormant power play failed to take advantage. The Kings were outshot 16-8 in the opening 20 minutes.
It was a particularly rough period for Doughty, whose slashing penalty was converted into a goal by McDavid. Doughty’s goal early in the second couldn’t make up for the damaging errors. And a Kane goal two minutes after the brief ray of hope quashed the thought of a comeback. Still, the game-deciding start to Game 3 wasn’t all on the defenseman.
“It’s a team game that way and we just didn’t play well enough as a group in the first period,” Hiller said. “Actually, we came around in the second period a little bit until they scored the fourth goal. That was one that really sunk us, I would say, at that point because we did have some momentum coming back.
“We go as a team. We weren’t good enough in the first period. That was a collective. All of us coaches included. Have to be better next game.”
Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, who has often been considered the weak link in their designs on winning a Cup, didn’t have to work too hard to make 27 saves. Meanwhile, Kings goalie Cam Talbot has been beaten 16 times — the most among any goalie who’s played three games in these playoffs — on 99 shots. Hiller could be faced with a Game 4 decision of sticking with his No. 1 goalie or turning to David Rittich for a change of pace in search of a spark. It was Rittich who shut out Edmonton on Feb. 10.
After the game, Kings defenseman Matt Roy was matter of fact in his assessment of what they’ve done and what lies ahead.
“I think our effort was there,” Roy said. “I don’t think it’s a lack of that. Obviously, the game didn’t go the way we wanted it to. It’s 2-1 in the series. Could have lost 10-1. Doesn’t matter. It’s 2-1. We’re just going to bounce back and get ready to go.”
The Oilers are once again destroying the Kings in special teams play. A big part of Edmonton’s six-game win over the Kings in 2023 was the Oilers’ 9-for-16 power play. It might be a different series, but nothing has changed. They went 3-for-7 with the advantage in Game 3 and are now 7-for-14 in the series.
What is also hurting the Kings is they’re 0-for-10 with their own power play. Hiller felt they moved the puck better on those first-period chances than they did in Games 1 and 2. But they didn’t score.
“We needed to score in that one for sure. … Definitely the first period, those were big opportunities for us to get ourselves and we didn’t take advantage,” he said.
“After the game, it’s easy to see,” Fiala said, discussing their power play outage. “But we have to do better. We’re trying our best and just got to be a little more patient maybe. They’re also doing a pretty good job to be honest. But we just have to figure it out.”
Three playoff matchups between these teams in successive seasons — and with each one, the gap seems to be widening. The Kings made moves to catch up to the Oilers after the previous playoff defeats. This year, it looks and feels like the deadline-boosted Oilers are pulling away.
“I think we’re just going out there (and) we’re executing,” Hyman said. “And I think we don’t worry about what the other team’s doing. We’ve had a lot of success. We’ve played together for a long time. And it’s not about necessary how many goals you score but when you score them. We always talk about that. That was big tonight and everyone’s going to talk about the power play, but the penalty kill’s been the story of the series for me. It’s been absolutely phenomenal. We’re just keeping everything at bay. Keeping momentum on our side. Just can’t talk about that enough.
“Our power play’s always been good. I think it’s been good for a long time. But the penalty kill has really been elevated, I would say.”
The good thing about the playoffs is that the narrative of momentum carrying over from game to game is largely false. Each game is its own entity and that’s again been proven in this series. And the Kings will once again be a motivated group for Game 4.
Will that make a difference? Possibly. But there’s an overarching theme that is undeniable: When the Oilers are clicking and their stars are rolling, they’re simply too much for the Kings to handle.
“I think our team has a lot of character,” Roy said. “Like I said, it’s 2-1. We’re still in the series. We’re not out of it and no one’s going to quit in here.”
There isn’t any doubting that. They wouldn’t be a playoff team for a third straight season if that was the case. The growing problem is that they may not be anything more.
(Photo: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
