APril 26, 2025 by Ryan Lotsberg

Games 1 and 2 between the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings saw one team (which happened to be the Kings in both games) get a multi-goal lead only to have that lead threatened in back and forth affairs. Game 3 followed suit, but this time the Oilers took a 2-0 lead in the first period.

Adrian Kempe scored a four-on-four goal (which was the first one the Oilers have allowed in that situation all season) to cut the lead in half early in the second period. Kevin Fiala and Drew Doughty both scored powerplay goals to give the Kings a 3-2 lead with just under five minutes left in the period. The Oilers scored again to tie the game, but Trevor Moore scored a one-handed goal just nine seconds later to give the Kings the lead entering the third period.

The Oilers would not be denied on Friday night though. A net front scramble led to a game-tying goal by the Oilers with 6:42 left. The play was reviewed to see if the puck was kicked in, but it wasn’t. The Kings then made an ill-advised challenge for goaltender interference, but there was no goaltender interference. The Oilers got a powerplay and took the lead for good ten seconds later. They added two empty netters to win by a score of 7-4.

Callouts

I thought that Calvin Pickard’s game was good overall, but there’s one big play that he will want back. He should’ve found a way to make a save on Moore’s one-handed goal. Moore got a half step on Jake Walman at the Oilers blue line. Walman was close enough to be draped all over Moore. Moore was leaning into Walman to maintain inside position and to protect the puck, which he was carrying with one hand on his stick. From Pickard’s perspective, it was a partial breakaway on a player who was being slowed down and that only had one hand available to him. Moore kind of just poked it towards the net, and it slid through Pickard’s legs. It was a nice little play by Moore, but the degree of difficulty was low for the goalie. That goal came just nine seconds after the Oilers had tied the game at three. That could have been a devastating goal, but the Oilers found a way to come back and win the game despite that error.

Two of the other goals that beat pickard were deflected by Oilers sticks immediately after release, so I have a hard time blaming Pickard on those ones. The other was a point shot with a good screen from Warren Foegele, who has had multiple good screens on Kings goals in the series. You can’t stop what you can’t see, but you also have to battle to see the puck through traffic. My only real beef with Pickard’s game was the fourth goal.

I had never seen a game where both teams’ powerplays went 100% in the game until Friday night. Both teams went 2/2 on the powerplay. I have to call out the Oilers penalty kill here. The Kings powerplay has gone 7/12 in the series thus far. The Oilers penalty kill did a much better job in Game 3 than they did in Games 1 and 2, but they couldn’t quite get the job done on either kill they faced on Friday night.

Standouts

Evan Bouchard had a huge impact in this game. He scored both of the Oilers’ powerplay goals, including the game winner. Bouchard ripped a patented Bouch Bomb past Darcy Kuemper just three seconds into the Oilers’ first powerplay to put the Oilers up 2-0. He and Leon Draisaitl, who had primary assists on Bouchard’s goals, made a creative entry play on the Oilers’ second powerplay. Rather than passing the puck back to a streaking McDavid as Bouchard usually does on the powerplay, Bouchard saw the Kings in soft coverage on the blue line, so he carried it in. He dropped it for Draisaitl near the blue line and went to the net, which caught the Kings off guard. Draisaitl found Bouchard for a wide open tap in goal that gave the Oilers the lead and sent Ice District into a frenzy. Bouchard wasn’t a culprit on any goals against in this game either. That’s what the Oilers need from Bouchard if they are to be successful.

Evander Kane came through in a big way for the Oilers in Game 3. He banged home the massive game-tying goal. He planted himself in the dirty area in front of the net while being careful to avoid making contact with Kuemper. The puck came to him, and he was able to kick it to his stick then slide the puck under Kuemper using his stick. He also avoided using his stick to push Kuemper into the net. The Kings challenged for goaltender interference for some reason, but there was nothing there. Kuemper fell backwards on his own accord in an effort to get across the net. Kopitar was leaning on Kane and pushing him towards Kuemper. Even if Kane had contacted Kuemper, Kopitar was pushing him into the goalie.

Kane also had a great sequence where he back checked hard, turned up ice and got the puck on the right wing, cut wide and around the net, then fed Connor Brown for the 3-3 goal. Kane’s four shots were tied for the team lead, and his five hits were tied for second on the team. Kane delivered a tremendous performance in a game when the team needed it. This was only his second game back after missing the entire season, so kudos to him for that.

Shoutouts

The 3-3 goal was Brown’s first of two in the game. He added salt to the Kings’ wound with an empty netter with under ten seconds left to make it a 7-4 game. Brown also had a great short-handed scoring chance in Game 3.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got the scoring started for the Oilers. The Oilers are a much more dangerous team when Nugent-Hopkins is playing well.

Zach Hyman had two assists, and two of his four hits were bone crushing.

Vasily Podkolzin led the team with seven hits.

The Oilers powerplay needed a grand total of thirteen seconds to score their two powerplay goals in Game 3. They didn’t ever get a chance to get set up and run their sets, so I don’t know how their 100% efficiency rate in Game 3 will affect the unit going forward; but a little bit of confidence is never a bad thing.

Oh yeah, and Connor McDavid got three points. He did his work with limited space behind the net on his two assists. McDavid managed to ward off Kings defenders and feed pucks into the low slot area. Nugent-Hopkins and Kane scored big goals after McDavid’s tough work behind the net. The captain sealed the game with an empty net insurance marker.

Wrap

That was a huge win for the Oilers. It’s hard enough to come back from an 0-2 series deficit. Going down 0-3 was not an option for this group, especially after doing that in the last series they played in.

While the Oilers certainly played a better game than they did in Games 1 and 2, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Game 3 cured them of all their maladies. Pickard was good but not great, the penalty kill is still getting torched, and the Kings’ shooters are still hot.

I also have no idea why Kings head coach Jim Hiller challenged Kane’s goal. There was no evidence that suggested there was any kind of interference on that play. The end result was the worst case scenario for the Kings, and it happened needlessly. The Kings had a chance to at least limit the amount of momentum the Oilers got from Kane’s goal, but it turned into a tidal wave of momentum when the call was upheld and the Oilers scored the game winner on that powerplay. We don’t know how the game would’ve turned out if the Kings hadn’t challenged the play so we can’t say they didn’t go up 3-0 in the series because of that decision; but that ill-advised challenge could be a moment that they look back at as a fumble should the series not end in their favour.

Having said all that, the Oilers stepped up. You just have to take care of business at home, and the Oilers did that in front of a tremendous crowd at Rogers Place in Game 3. They will need to step up again in Game 4 on Sunday in order to tie the series at two games apiece.

Related: Call Outs, Standouts, and Shout Outs: Kings outclass Oilers in Game 2