(image credit: Eric Poole // @Epoole88)
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Kings Lead series 2-1
Game Day: April 23, 2023
Start Time: 7PM MT
TV: SN Radio: 630 CHED
Location: Crypto.com Arena Los Angeles CA.
The Series:
Game 1 - Kings 4 Oilers 3 OT Highlights
Game 2 - Kings 2 Oilers 3 Highlights
Game 3 - Oilers 2 Kings 3 OT Highlights
Game 4 - Tonight
Game 5 - Tuesday April 25th @ 7:30 PM MT
Game 6 - Saturday April 29th @ TBD
Game 7 - Monday May 1st @ TBD
Tonight Will will be Sad...
Line ups:
(Via Soil's last GDT and game 2)
Oilers:
Evander Kane - Connor McDavid - Zach Hyman
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Leon Draisaitl - Kailer Yamamoto
Warren Foegele - Ryan McLeod - Nick Bjugstad
Klim Kostin - Derek Ryan
Mattias Ekholm - Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse - Cody Ceci
Brett Kulak - Vinny Desharnais
Philip Broberg
Stuart Skinner
Kings:
Quinton Byfield - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore - Philip Danault - Viktor Arvidsson
Alex Iafallo - Gabe Vilardi - Carl Grundstrom
Jaret Anderson-Dolan - Rasmus Kupari - Zack MacEwen
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov - Matt Roy
Alex Edler - Sean Durzi
Joonas Korpisalo
Preview:
(Via Oilers.com
Oilers Team Scope
The Oilers head into Sunday's game looking to shake off the frustration of three fairly well played games in which they only have a 1-2 series record to show for.
On Friday night in LA, the Oilers dropped Game 3 by a 3-2 score for their second overtime defeat of the series, with both winning goals coming while the Kings were on a power play. It was Trevor Moore who picked up the winner in somewhat controversial fashion, tapping a Gabriel Vilardi pass by Stuart Skinner 3:24 into the overtime period.
The play would be reviewed as it looked like the puck was knocked down by a high stick prior to the goal, but officials deemed the replays to be inconclusive enough to prevent overturning the goal.
The rest of the game followed a similar pattern to the first two contests in the series. The Oilers controlled the majority of the play at five-on-five, out shooting Los Angeles 33-25 at even strength, but costly mistakes prevented the Oilers picking up the win.
Los Angeles opened the scoring with 33-second remaining in the first period to take a 1-0 lead after one. Their advantage was quickly erased by a pair of near identical snipes by Connor McDavid on the power play, beating Joonas Korpislao from the left circle with second-period goals coming just 1:40 apart. However, after McDavid's second gave Edmonton a 2-1 lead, a slash on the ensuing celebration was called on Leon Draisaitl giving the Kings a power play of their own.
The series leading goal getter Adrian Kempe took advantage of a set play, chasing down a hard dump in at the boards and quickly one timing a slap shot by Skinner for the 2-2 tie. After a scoreless third period, Moore's winner would give Los Angeles their second advantage of the series, despite leading for less than 10-minutes in all three games combined.
"Obviously you don't want to go down 3-1, but at the same time we're all about looking forward to going back to Edmonton at 2-2," Mattias Ekholm said about Sunday's Game 4. "Playoff series are like this. It's momentum swings and you feel great when you win, you feel not great when you lose so it's about managing that and I think we have experience in this group of doing that. No panic here. We're in a series, we're in a battle and we knew it was going to be this way."
Kings Team Scope
The Kings have been following their game plan to a tee this series and it has gifted them a 2-1 lead heading into Sunday's Game 4.
Los Angeles has hacked, slashed, and gritted their way through the opening three games, limiting the Oilers league-leading offence to just nine goals so far. When the Oilers have managed to slice through the Kings stifling defence, it has been Joonas Korpisalo and his career .938 playoff save percentage that has stymied a multitude of opportunities from the Blue & Orange.
Another area of the game that has been working for the Kings is their power play. Los Angles has already had plenty of opportunities on the man advantage, averaging five per game, and has scored four times in the series including both of their overtime winners. Trevor Moore's winner came with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the box for a slash on Alex Iafallo which negated a scoring chance for the Kings.
"There's been a lot of penalties called in this years playoffs, more so than others, it seems, but you got to eliminate the penalties that don't have an effect on the play, and the refs seem to call those more frequently," Zach Hyman said. "So that's the standard, and we have to be aware of the standard and make sure that we're not giving them any freebies."
The power play helped give the Kings a 4-0 shot advantage in the overtime period, with their final shot giving them a 2-1 series lead.
"We knew we could play better, and we certainly did," Korpisalo said. "From the start of [overtime], I think we controlled the game and took the win."
By The Numbers
Through three games, both teams have scored exactly nine goals despite the Oilers 117-90 shot advantage... Scoring chances in the series are currently 77-47 in the Oilers favour, with 50 shots from the slot... Edmonton also has the advantage in faceoff percentage (55.4 per cent to 44.6 per cent) and in hits (150 to 148)... The Oilers are 25-23 all-time in best-of-seven series Game 4s, but are 1-8 in their last nine... Los Angeles is 13-28 all-time in playoff Game 4s and are 11-22 at home in those games...
The Kings have held a lead for just 8:15 in the series, while the Oilers have lead for 107:26 in the first three games... Los Angles has scored three times in the series in the final minute of a period... Edmonton has held the lead in every game in the series thus far... Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are the fifth and third-highest scoring players in postseason history through their first 40 post-season games... McDavid has 58 points in 40 games, while Draisaitl has 65 in his first 40... Prior to Saturday night's games, McDavid ranked in the top three in shots, slot shots, rush chances, cycle chances, and average offensive zone possession for the postseason...
Injury Report
OILERS - Ryan Murray (back) is on a conditioning stint; Mattias Janmark (foot) is day-to-day.
KINGS - Kevin Fiala (undisclosed) is day-to-day; Blake Lizotte (lower body) is day-to-day.
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com
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