The Oilers look to respond to a 2-0 series deficit to the Kings on home ice at Rogers Place on Friday night in Game 3 as the series shifts to Oil Country
© 2025 Leila Devlin
The Edmonton Oilers return home to host the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night in Game 3 at Rogers Place, trailing 2-0 in their first-round series.
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The Kings score three power-play goals in a 6-2 victory in Game 2
EDMONTON, AB – Comin’ home to Oil Country to get back on track in this series.
“That’s huge and exciting for us, and that’s going to give us a huge boost for sure,” defenceman Brett Kulak said on Thursday before the team travelled home from Los Angeles. “It’s something we look forward to, and the fans in Edmonton definitely go to another level in the playoffs.”
They say it’s never in jeopardy until a team loses on home ice, and after the Kings took care of business at Crypto.com Arena in Games 1 & 2, the Oilers will get their first chance to respond in front of their fans at Rogers Place on Friday night in Game 3 of their first-round series.
The Oilers have been outscored 12-7 by the Kings including five power-play goals against over the first two games, a 6-5 final-minute defeat in Game 1 and Wednesday’s 6-2 loss in Game 2 that was highlighted by three PPGs for Los Angeles to improve their efficiency in this series to 5-for-10.
Draisaitl scored his second goal of the series to make it 3-1 in the second period and extend his postseason point streak against the Kings to 16 games before Viktor Arvidsson had the Oilers back within one just four minutes into the final frame.
But after the Oilers allowed three goals in a 4:23 span – including one on the power play – the Kings were able exploit the many mistakes they made, while they’ve been firing on all cylinders. Stuart Skinner finished with 23 saves on 28 shots before Calvin Pickard stopped two of three in the game’s late stages.
In 2023-24, Edmonton was 9-for-20 on the power play and 12-for-12 on the penalty kill, but special teams dominance by Los Angeles and their own inability to keep pucks out of their own net this year have contributed to a 2-0 series lead for the Kings, and an urgent need for the Oilers to rise up on home ice.
Brett speaks as the Oilers prepare to return home for Games 3 & 4
That won’t feel like a problem for the players, with the majority of Edmonton’s roster having already been in these types of situations over previous playoff runs, knowing what home ice and a few corrections and changes to your approach can do for your group.
“I think the biggest thing that’s there is obviously the frustration, and you want to at least get one game, but to go down 2-0 is a tough spot to be in,” Kulak said. “But you know what? I think it’s just taking today, getting back home and resetting. We’ve got to come back with our best effort tomorrow and make a couple adjustments. They’re a good team. They’ve been playing well, but we’ve also showed signs that we can be betteri, and we believe that in the room.”
The Kings have been nearly unbeatable at home after improving to 33-6-4 this season with their wins in Games 1 & 2, but their road record wasn’t terrific in the regular season. Their .805 win percentage at home was the best in the NHL, but dropped to .476 away from Crypto.com Arena – a .329 difference.
They did however win their final three road games of regular season that included a 5-0 win on Apr. 14 over the Oilers at Rogers Place.
Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said the setting inside ICE District is better for his team to make some adjustments on special teams and build on some of the successes at even strength they experienced in the first two games of the series.
“We’re very optimistic going back to Edmonton and playing in front of our fans,” Knoblauch said. “Our building is something where obviously we feel more comfortable with playing at home anytime. But there are things that we can still improve going forward. We’re spending a lot of time in the offensive zone.
“The forecheck’s been good getting them to turn over pucks, but now it’s the next play, and they’re very a patient team and they’re okay with sitting back and waiting for us to lose focus or lose patience and then them taking advantage of it. So we have to stick with it and have the mentality of winning a 1-0 or 2-1 game And to do that, we’ll also have to have fewer kills.”
Kris talks before the Oilers return to Edmonton for Games 3 & 4
Knoblauch says that he’s contemplated a change in goal for Game 3 to change the dynamic for the Oilers, but while he would’ve liked to see an extra save ro two out of Stuart Skinner, the problem lies collectively in his team’s lack of chance suppression and their mistakes leading to Grade-A opportunities.
“We knew throughout the series, if we’re fortunate enough to play through June, that most likely we’re going to make a switch [in goal] at some time,” he said.” But we haven’t made a decision as of now. It’s unfortunate for Skinner because I don’t think any of those goals are his fault. He’s in a difficult situation.
“The amount of chances were low, but the quality of the shots were high, and that’s not easy for the goaltender. You can have some of those once in a while, but just not too many, so it’s just unfortunate for him but that’s something we’ll have to decide.”
Evander Kane played 14:46 in his first game in over 10 months in the Game 2 defeat, and Knoblauch expects all three of him, Trent Frederic and John Klingberg to fin dmore of their legs in the next game of the series.
“I think they didn’t hurt us,” Knoblauch said of their performances in Game 2.
“Some areas of the game they helped us, but we feel that those three are just going to continue to get better. Coming back after a long stretch, whether that’s a guy that’s been out about eight weeks with Frederic, Klingberg for probably four weeks and Kane for 10 months, that’s a tall order. But we feel that they’re just going to continue to get better with more playing time and more games under their belt.”
