Los Angeles Kings' goalie Darcy Kuemper (35) looks for the puck as Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid (97) skates around the net and Phillip Danault (24) defends during second period NHL playoff action in Edmonton on Friday, April 25, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

EDMONTON - Pieces of the Edmonton Oilers' game came together to avoid a deep playoff hole, but other elements need immediate improvement to extend their post-season runway.

The Oilers were down 2-1 to the Los Angeles Kings heading into Sunday's Game 4 of their first-round playoff series after a 7-4 victory Friday.

Edmonton trailed 4-3 and was just over six minutes from a three-game deficit in the series.

Evander Kane's twice-reviewed equalizer and Evan Bouchard's winner on a revived power play rescued Edmonton's first victory in the series at raucous Rogers Place.

"Playoffs, you've got to have a short-term memory, whether you win or lose," Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said Saturday.

"It doesn't matter if you have a big victory. The other team is going to come out stronger. Whatever it is, you just need to win the next night. 

"After tomorrow night, if we're down 3-1, that's not ideal. You know, 2-2, all right, this is a three-game series after this. Last night was a big one. Tomorrow's going to be a big one also."

After falling behind 4-0 and 3-0 in the first two games, the Oilers scored first in Game 3.

Edmonton also produced its first two power-play goals, both scored by Bouchard, after going 0-for-5.

But the Kings also went 2-for-2 a man up to be 7-for-12 in the series. And both L.A. power-play goals were scored within seconds of Edmonton's penalties expiring.

"The first two games, they've had the advantage there, so we wanted to try to turn it," said Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. "I thought we had some good plans to get some quick attacks and worked out for us.

"On the PK side, I thought did better things yesterday. They still stung us so important to stay out of the box at this point."

Kane, who missed the entire regular season with knee and sports hernia surgery and rehabilitation, was a standout in just his second game back Friday. 

Defenceman John Klingberg, who played just 11 games this season due to injuries, also recovered some of his form in his second game of the playoffs.

Two glaring stats are Edmonton's league-worst average of 5.33 goals against and a combined .820 save percentage by Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard.

The absence of injured big-minute man Mattias Ekholm is a chasm in the lineup both even-strength and on special teams. Edmonton's back end misses his steadying presence. 

Knoblauch said Saturday he had yet to decide whether he'd start backup Pickard again in Game 4 or return to starter Skinner. 

Pickard stopped 24 shots, but L.A.'s fourth goal scored just nine seconds after Edmonton drew even was momentum-killer for the hosts, and one that Pickard needed to stop.

With one hand on his stick and the other fighting off Jake Walman, Trevor Moore driving the net shovelled the puck between Pickard's pads.

The argument for Pickard would be that the Oilers won their first game of the series in front of him, albeit needing five-plus goals to do it.

"Those high-scoring games are not what we're shooting for as a d-corps," Walman said.

"It's just a goal we're kind of setting for ourselves to keep the score down. We've got such skilled guys up front, the more we can play in the o-zone, the better for us."

The Oilers fell a win short of a Stanley Cup in 2024 when they lost 2-1 to the Florida Panthers in Game 7. 

Edmonton trailed 3-0 in that series, so there are Oilers veterans who know how to climb back into contention.

A win Sunday buys more time for Edmonton to make the adjustments needed to win the series.

"We're a confident group," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We know what we're capable of and we've got a lot of good pieces, so bringing it shift after shift. We did a better job last night. 

"Still got some room to grow, but goes without saying, a huge one tomorrow."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 26, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025