Trevor Moore scored on an overtime power play to give the host Los Angeles Kings a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday and a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference first-round playoff series.
Alex Iafallo and Adrian Kempe also scored for the Kings, who reached overtime thanks to an outstanding 38-save performance from goaltender Joonas Korpisalo. He stopped all 17 shots he faced in the third period.
Both Los Angeles victories in the series have come in overtime, and both after erasing a deficit.
Connor McDavid scored twice for the Oilers, and goalie Stuart Skinner stopped 28 shots. Defenseman Evan Bouchard collected two assists.
With Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the penalty box for slashing, Gabriel Vilardi sent a short pass to the front to the net and Moore buried his first goal of the playoffs at 3:24 of overtime. After a lengthy review to determine whether Vilardi knocked down the puck with a high stick, the call on the ice stood.
The Kings will look to take a stranglehold on the best-of-seven series when the teams meet for Game 4 on Sunday in Los Angeles.
It was a wild finish to a back-and-forth affair.
Iafallo’s tally with 32.5 seconds remaining in the first period opened the scoring. Matt Roy’s point shot was stopped, but Iafallo chipped the rebound into the net for his second of the playoffs.
McDavid, who registered no goals and one assist in the first two games, responded with a pair of second-period power-play goals 100 seconds apart. His first was a top-corner, glove-side wrist shot from the left faceoff dot at 7:42 of the frame.
Not long after, the Oilers captain ripped another bullet from almost the exact same spot, only this time to the blocker side.
However, Kempe replied with a power-play goal just 18 seconds later. With Kempe a step behind the defenders, Viktor Arvidsson blasted a shot from inside his own blue line off the end boards intending to bounce it to Kempe as he closed in on the net, and Kempe unloaded a one-timer for his third goal of the playoffs.
On the injury front, the Kings were without center Blake Lizotte. Combined with forward Arthur Kaliyev being scratched, Jaret Anderson-Dolan returned to the lineup and Zack MacEwen played his first game of the series.
–Field Level Media
