April 27, 2024 by Raghu Sharma

The Oilers got off to a really hot start in the first period after that tough overtime loss in Game 2. They got three goals from three of their best players with Zach Hyman getting one on a pure individual effort in front of the net, Leon Draisaitl capitalizing on an Evander Kane pass from behind the net, and Connor McDavid getting his first of this postseason.

The Oilers came out flat in the second period, and the Kings got to within two goals, making it 3-1. Shortly after the Kings outburst, on an extended shift by the second line, Draisaitl made a fantastic pass to Cody Ceci who blasted it off Kane for his first of the playoffs to make it 4-1. Skinner was excellent in the second period. He made a lot of important saves when the Kings were buzzing, with the best being on a point blank shot by Adrian Kempe.

The Kings decided to play dirty in classic fashion for them. Viktor Arvidsson had a dirty hit on Hyman, Drew Doughty had one on McDavid, and then Andreas Englund made a dangerous hit on Kane, which led to a fight where Kane destroyed Englund. Kane had to go off the ice for an obvious concussion protocol check. The Oilers got a five-on-three out of that, and Hyman made the Kings pay by scoring his second goal of the night and his sixth of the playoffs. The third period got out of hand, and the Oilers got awarded another five-on-three. Draisaitl made them pay again, which made it 6-1.

Call Outs

• Warren Foegele had a really rough game today. He couldn’t find the puck on his stick, and I wonder if he was mentally impacted by the demotion to the third line.

Stand Outs

• Kane got the promotion to the second line, and he benefited with a goal and an assist. After repeated dirty hits, Kane dropped the gloves and destroyed Englund in that fight.

• Dylan Holloway was excellent once again, and he stood up for Kane after that dirty hit.

• Evan Bouchard took some big hits today and he stood up for himself today, which was excellent.

Shout Outs

• McDavid got his first goal of this postseason.

• Hyman is already up to six goals in this series after scoring two more in Game 3.

• This was a fantastic bounce back game for Stuart Skinner, who took a lot of heat from a number of fans for his performance in Game 2. Skinner made 27 saves on 28 shots in Game 3 after allowing five goals on 26 shots in Game 2.

• Leon Draisaitl added a two-goal performance of his own in Game 3.

This was a fantastic rebound game for the Oilers after a really tough loss in Game 2. Now they must channel everything from this win for Game 4 on Sunday night.

Related: Call Outs, Stand Outs, and Shout Outs: Kings in OT over Oilers 5-4 in Game 2