EDMONTON — The Los Angeles Kings survived several comebacks by the Edmonton Oilers to win 5-4 in overtime in Game 2, evening their first-round series.
Anze Kopitar scored the game-winning goal at 2:06 of the extra frame, his 25th career playoff goal. The game moves to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Friday.
The Kings took a 2-0 lead before the game was 15 minutes old, thanks to two goals from Adrian Kemp, who has been a thorn in the side of the Oilers in recent years. They went into the first intermission with a 3-1 advantage after defensemen Brett Kulak and Drew Doughty traded markers.
But the Oilers battled back to tie the game in the second period thanks to goals by Dylan Holloway and Zach Hyman, the latter coming on the power play.
Kevin Fiala put the Kings ahead again at 1:46 of the third, but Holloway answered 97 seconds later to tie the game.
Kopitar, the Kings’ captain, had two assists on his overtime goal.
Kemp is still a problem for the Oilers
In the last three playoff series between the Kings and the Oilers, it is clear who has become the leading force for Los Angeles. Kempe displaced the Kings’ longtime scoring leader Kopitar with a team-best 75 points this season and has been outstanding for the Kings in the first two games of this series.
Kemp provided the spark the Kings needed after a lopsided loss in Game 1. The right wing got into a shooting position after Kopitar intercepted Evan Bouchard’s pass in Edmonton’s zone and fired a shot past Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner for a 1-0 lead. 3:19 in the first period. Kempe later sparked a three-on-two with a layup at his blue line and headed to the net for an aerial redirection of Kopitar’s pass to double LA’s lead.
Before that, Skinner failed another golden chance for the Swede. Kempe’s big first period continued the streak against Edmonton. He had a goal and an assist in Game 1. In Edmonton’s six-game winning streak last season, Kemp scored four times. And in 2022, the wing scored his first two goals of the playoffs in Game 5, the second being the game-winner in overtime.
“When I watch him, he’s just a big competitor,” Kings guard Mikey Anderson said. “He wants the puck in those moments. Obviously, when he got it, he had moments where he was able to cash in on it and be the hero for us.” — Eric Stevens, NHL Staff Writer
Holloway makes his mark
Holloway performed so well in the final six games of the season after being recalled from AHL Bakersfield – he had five points – that it was impossible for the coaching staff to leave him out of the playoff lineup. But with Holloway not playing special teams and being moved to the fourth line for Game 1, it was hard to gauge how he would have much of an impact.
Well, he did just that in Game 2, scoring twice.
With the Oilers trailing 3-1 nearing the midway point of the second period, Holloway forced a turnover in the neutral zone and then scrambled. Within seconds, he received a pass from teammate Sam Carrick in the high slot and scored a handball.
Holloway then ripped another one past goalie Cam Talbot’s glove — this time high — 3:23 into the third period to tie the game at 4-4.
Scoring aside, his speed, forechecking and physical play have been welcomed by the Oilers.
Here’s something you can take to the bank: Holloway will be in the lineup for Game 3. — Daniel Nugent-Bowman, the Oilers’ beat writer
The Oilers power play looks unstoppable
Edmonton’s power play wasn’t as proficient as it was in Game 1, when it went 3-for-4, but it was perhaps more electrifying.
The Oilers scored on just one of their three chances, but that goal was a thing of beauty. Zach Hyman stepped away from the front of the net to allow Leon Draisaitl to set him up for a one-timer into a gaping cage. The goal was Hyman’s fourth of the playoffs, following his Game 1 hat trick.
If not for Talbot, the Oilers would have been more productive with the man advantage. The Kings netminder dropped his glove on Bouchard and Draisaitl in the second period – although Bouchard’s save came on the same opportunity as Hyman’s goal. Still, the Oilers looked like the Harlem Globetrotters running that puck.
The Oilers were 9-for-16 in the six-game series last year. Throw in their efforts from the first two games and the Kings should be out of the picture. — Nugent-Bowman
Skinner must find a way
The Oilers were the better team in this game. It really wasn’t close.
Through the first two games — and especially based on Game 2 — there appears to be only one possible path to a series victory for the Kings. This time it is if Skinner can’t make enough saves.
Misfortunate mostly caused a below-average stat of four goals on 37 shots for Skinner in Game 1. But two nights later, it was clearer that another save or two needed to be made.
The only Kings regulation goal that Skinner couldn’t be faulted for in the slightest was the second, a double deflection last touched by Adrian Kemp.
Kempe’s opener and Drew Doughty’s breakaway markers weren’t terrible scoring chances, but they weren’t unstoppable either. Fiala’s errant corner kick that put the Kings ahead again at 1:46 of the third had to be blocked.
Overall, Skinner allowed five goals on 26 shots Wednesday.
Skinner should not stand on his head. He just needs to prove a good goalkeeper in this series. The Oilers need a little more from him. — Nugent-Bowman
The Kings’ special teams continue to be dangerous
If the Kings want to win this series, they need to come up against when they have to deal with Edmonton’s vaunted power play while also generating something positive for their own chances with the man advantage.
The Kings’ power play capitalized on its two opportunities in Game 1 and didn’t fare any better on Wednesday. On their initial chance, as Corey Perry served up the first of two layups in the second period, the Kings were guilty of missing shots as they focused on moving the puck into Edmonton’s zone. A potential turnover saw Ryan McLeod break away, but Talbot was there for the key stop.
Their second power play didn’t provide any momentum as Viktor Arvidsson got the only chance, which Skinner saved easily. A third opportunity came in the third period with the score tied 4-4, but the Kings only got shots from Kopitar and Quinton Byfield that Skinner deflected. And the Kings’ penalty kill couldn’t go unscathed, with Hyman burying his fourth goal of the series off a feed from Draisaitl.
But while Talbot was mobbed again by a raucous crowd at Rogers Place in Game 2, the struggling goalkeeper made a great glove save on Draisaitl’s one-time chance after Connor McDavid set him up with a magnificent no-look pass. The Kings were able to kill two of their three footy situations as they ably took care of Byfield’s tripping penalty in the first period. — Stevens
(Photo: Perry Nelson/USA Today)
