Zach Hyman, Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid scored in the first period and the visiting Edmonton Oilers finished with the three power-play goals in a 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in Game 3 of a first-round Western Conference playoff series on Friday.
Hyman and Draisaitl each finished with two goals, and Draisaitl also had an assist as the Oilers took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series while rebounding from a 5-4 defeat at home in Game 2.
McDavid wound up with three points, Evander Kane contributed a goal and an assist, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins notched three assists and Stuart Skinner made 27 saves for Edmonton.
“I thought it was a good win,” said McDavid. “I thought we did a lot of good things. Special teams was great. I thought Stu was a rock back there, penalty kill did its thing and five-on-five, we were solid, I thought. A lot of positives but it just counts as one win, that’s all. We got to be ready for a big one Sunday.”
Hyman has scored in all three games and has six goals in the series, including a hat trick in Game 1. McDavid scored his first of the series, the 30th of his playoff career, and he increased his assist total to eight in the series.
Edmonton now has seven power-play goals in the series.
Drew Doughty scored a goal for the Kings, while Cam Talbot made 34 saves. The Kings get a chance to even the series in Game 4 at home on Sunday.
Hyman got the Oilers’ redemption party started when he jammed a goal home from point-blank range at 6:42 of the first period. Draisaitl added a goal at 15:36 of the period before McDavid scored on a power play, also from close range, with 1:26 remaining before the first intermission.
“I thought we’ve had a lot of good performances from a lot of guys,” said McDavid. “I thought everybody tonight was really, really good. Obviously, Zach is always around the net and is always going to be there to bang those in. He gets us going on a big goal. … It’s a big one. Getting the first one on the road in their building, that’s big. Credit to him. He’s always willing to go there and pay a price. He’s done that so far in these playoffs.”
Doughty scored his second goal of the series at 5:32 of the second period, but Kane made it 4-1 with a goal at 7:39 of the middle period.
After the teams engaged in a scuffle that left the Oilers on a two-man advantage, Hyman delivered his second of the game at 6:37 of the third period. Draisaitl turned another five-on-three advantage into his second of the game at 12:38.
The Oilers went 3-for-7 on the power play and are now 7-for-14 in the series. The Kings went 0-for-5 on the man advantage and are now 0-for-10 in the series. The teams combined for 92 penalty minutes.
“I thought we were better on the power play and we moved it quicker,” said Kings head coach Jim Hiller. “We didn’t score. In the first period those were big opportunities for us to get us back and we didn’t take advantage.”
–Field Level Media
