Wins it at 18:18 after Bouchard ties it late in 3rd for Edmonton, which evens series
Kings at Oilers | Recap | Round 1, Game 4
EDMONTON — Leon Draisaitl scored a power-play goal at 18:18 of overtime for the Edmonton Oilers, who rallied late for a 4-3 win against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round at Rogers Place on Sunday.
Draisaitl, who also had three assists, scored his first Stanley Cup Playoff overtime goal on a rebound from the bottom of the right circle after Evan Bouchard, who scored twice in the third period, tied it with 29 seconds left in the third.
“That’s our identity in here, we’ve built that years ago. It’s a mentality that we have, that we’re never going to quit no matter what,” Draisaitl said. “We’ve shown that in the series so far, maybe a little bit too much. We’ve got to find a way to play with a lead.
“It shows a lot of character, and we can be really proud of that, but you don’t want to do that every night.”
The best-of-7 series is tied 2-2. Game 5 is in Los Angeles on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET, FDSNW, MAX, TBS, TVAS2, SN, CBC).
“Knowing that things change, understanding that things change, we could have easily gone out there and mailed it in and headed to L.A. and tried to dig our way out,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who drew the overtime tripping penalty on Vladislav Gavrikov. “But I thought everyone just dug in. I’m sure there’s lots of people doubting us still, but we like it that way.
“A lot of people are counting us out, but we’re fighting to beat a good team. They’re a great team, they really are, and we’re fighting.”
LAK@EDM, Gm4: Draisaitl puts home the rebound for PPG in overtime
McDavid had two assists, Calvin Pickard made 38 saves, and Corey Perry scored for the Oilers, who are the No. 3 seed from the Pacific Division.
Darcy Kuemper made 44 saves, and Trevor Moore, Warren Foegele and Kevin Fiala scored for the Kings, who are the No. 2 seed from the Pacific. Phillip Danault had two assists.
“We were skating. I thought we skated all game. It’s something we wanted to do to improve upon,” Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller said. “I thought we skated a lot better tonight than we did in Game 3 (a 7-4 loss on Friday) and had plenty of opportunities to put it away and did not.
“So, here we are. We go home 2-2 instead. They get a power play in overtime. Those are tough.”
Bouchard cut it to 3-2 at 7:51 of the third period. He sent the puck toward the crease, and it bounced in off the skate of Kings defenseman Drew Doughty.
Bouchard then scored his fourth goal in two games with 29 seconds left to tie it 3-3. With Pickard pulled for an extra attacker, he one-timed a pass from Draisaitl high blocker side on Kuemper to force overtime.
“A couple lucky bounces to be honest,” Foegele said. “That second goal, it hits a stick, bounces off the ice. They pushed hard, but I really liked our game.
“I thought we came out with high intensity. We just didn’t get the bounces there.”
Moore gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 10:35 of the first period. He stopped a clearing attempt by Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse along the right boards, then took a behind-the-back pass from Danault and skated to the right dot before sending a wrist shot through Pickard’s legs.
Foegele extended the lead to 2-0 at 1:31 of the second period. Danault stripped the puck from Connor Brown in the offensive zone and passed ahead to Foegele, who got in behind Nurse and jammed the puck past Pickard’s pad.
LAK@EDM, Gm4: Bouchard hammers a one-timer through traffic to even the score late in the 3rd
Perry closed the gap to 2-1 on a power play at 4:11. He took a pass from Draisaitl to the left side of the net and followed up his initial backhand shot by batting the rebound out of the air then jabbing it past Kuemper.
Fiala pushed it to 3-1 at 7:32, knocking down a breakaway pass from Alex Laferriere at the blue line and lifting the puck in off of Pickard’s right arm.
“They fed off the crowd at the end. They had more energy and obviously they came back from two goals again,” Danault said. “We have to find a way to seal the deal. It’s the little mistakes. It’s not only against Edmonton. In the next round, it’s the same thing.
“If you’re up 3-1, you have to seal the deal and make those plays when it counts. It’s hard to win, especially on the visitor side.”
NOTES: Draisaitl had his eighth four-point playoff game, tying Mario Lemieux for the fifth-most in NHL history, behind Wayne Gretzky (26), Jari Kurri (11), Mark Messier (11) and Paul Coffey (nine). … Draisaitl has a point in 18 straight playoff games against the Kings, the third-longest streak versus one franchise in Stanley Cup Playoff history, behind Messier (19 games against the Kings) and Gretzky (19 games against the Calgary Flames). … Bouchard is the fourth defenseman in NHL history with consecutive multigoal games in the playoffs, joining Rob Blake (2002, Colorado Avalanche), Al Iafrate (1993, Washington Capitals) and Denis Potvin (1981, New York Islanders). … McDavid became the fifth player in Oilers history with 40 career multipoint playoff games, joining Gretzky (73), Messier (57), Kurri (54) and Glenn Anderson (50).
🔹Ottawa Senators vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
🔹Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
🔹Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals
🔹New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes
🔹St. Louis Blues vs. Winnipeg Jets
🔹Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars
🔹Minnesota Wild vs. Vegas Golden Knights
🔹Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings
