The Edmonton Oilers regained the series lead on Friday night with a 6-1 road win over the Los Angeles Kings. Once Zach Hyman scored the opening goal, the Oilers never looked back, with Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Evander Kane all snapping home goals.
Stuart Skinner played excellent, too. After a disappointing Game 2 performance, the Oilers starter stopped 27 of the 28 shots he faced for a 0.964 save percentage. Edmonton Oilers did a great job of limiting high-danger chances and blocking shots endlessly throughout the contest.
Game 4 goes tonight in Los Angeles, and the Oilers look to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. What should we expect to see at Crypto Arena tonight? Let’s take a look.
More from Evander Kane
Evander Kane has been a factor in all three games against the L.A. Kings. While defensive awareness is still lacking and needs to improve at times, he’s found ways each game to get involved offensively and physically. Game 3 was peak playoff Kane with a Gordie Howe hat trick while finding a way to rattle the Kings. The focus seems to be on getting him frustrated with hits after the whistle or greasy slew foots. However, it had the opposite effect, giving Kane life. After everything that happened in Game 3, look for Kane to have another strong performance tonight as the Oilers look to take a stranglehold on the series.
A much tighter game
We’ve seen two blowout games out of the three from this first-round series so far. In Game 2, the Los Angeles Kings responded well going into the first intermission with a 3-1 lead. Tonight, in front of their home fans, it’s hard to imagine they lay an egg like they did on Friday night in Game 4. We should expect a much tighter structured Los Angeles team tonight led by its first line of Anze Kopitar, Adrien Kempe and Quinton Byfield.
The Oilers offence to keep pushing
While tonight will be closer, that doesn’t mean I don’t think the Oilers’ offence will again exploit the Kings’ goaltending. The Oilers have scored four or more goals in each game thus far into the series, giving Cam Talbot a 0.861 save percentage. Only Alexander Georgiev has a worse percentage for goaltenders that have played all three games. However, nobody has allowed more goals than Talbot, with 16 against. So tonight, the Kings are pivoting and going with David Rittich. The Oilers’ power play, meanwhile, has been unstoppable with five goals on ten attempts. If you’re a betting person, laying a couple of pennies on the Oilers team total tonight wouldn’t be the worst idea.
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