Leon Draisaitl scored his first career playoff overtime goal to cap a four-point performance as the host Edmonton Oilers claimed a thrilling 4-3 comeback victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday to even their Stanley Cup playoff series.
Evan Bouchard scored twice and Corey Perry added a single for the Oilers, who erased a two-goal third-period deficit to force overtime. With the win, they tied the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series at 2-2.
“That’s our identity. That’s what we do. We never quit,” Draisailt said to Sportsnet. “We established that years ago and look to do that every night. Obviously, we’d like to play with the lead more and get that trending in the right direction, but (this win) shows a lot of character.”
Connor McDavid netted two helpers and goaltender Calvin Pickard made 38 saves.
“There’s a strong belief in here, a strong belief we’re never out,” McDavid said. “I’m sure there’s lots of people doubting us still, but we like it that way. A lot of people counting us out but we’re fighting. We’re fighting to beat a really good team.”
With Vladislav Gavrikov in the penalty box for a tripping infraction, Draisaitl buried a loose puck in a wild scramble at 18:18 of extra time. Draisaitl has collected points in 18 consecutive playoff games against the Kings (17 goals, 18 assists).
“We were all over them in that overtime period, (and) deserved to draw one there,” Draisaitl said. “It was just a scramble and a fortunate bounce on my tape.”
Game 5 of the series will be Tuesday in Los Angeles. The home team has won all four games.
Trevor Moore, Warren Foegele and Kevin Fiala scored for the Kings, who have blown third-period leads in three of four games this series. Phil Danault collected two assists and goalie Darcy Kuemper stopped 44 shots.
Edmonton has eliminated the Kings in the first round of the playoffs in each of the past three years and now has the momentum to do it again.
“I think they’re all painful, right?” Foegele said after the loss. “At the end of the day, you’re trying to get to the first one to four wins. Obviously, we’re disappointed, but … we’re excited to go home.”
The Kings had more jump from the drop of the puck and were rewarded when Moore opened the scoring at the 10:35 mark of the opening period. Foegele gave Los Angeles a 2-0 lead 91 seconds into the second period.
After Perry’s power-play goal — when he batted a rebound out of the air — put the Oilers on the board at 4:11 of the frame, Fiala restored the Kings’ two-goal lead three minutes later with a breakaway tally.
To the surprise of nobody, the Oilers had another late push. Bouchard made it a one-goal game at 7:51 of the third period when he chopped a puck from the slot that bounded into the net.
Bouchard then tied the clash with 28.4 seconds remaining in regulation. Seconds after he prevented a clearing attempt, Bouchard unloaded a one-timer from the point and became only the fourth defenseman in history to score multiple goals in consecutive games.
Edmonton has outscored the Kings 11-5 in the third period this series.
Kings coach Jim Hiller talked afterward about the team recovering emotionally from a tough loss.
“At home, it’s easy, you’ve got 20,000 people cheering on,” he said. “On the road, you’ve got 20,000 people getting after you. You’re fighting and that’s why they’re playing at this level. They suck it up, they answer questions, they get a rest, they get ready to go do it all over again. That’s the beauty of what we get to witness.”
–Field Level Media
