Telepeer

Kings squander another 3rd period lead in Game 4 loss to Oilers

April 28, 2025

Edmonton Oilers’ Evan Bouchard (2), Zach Hyman (18) and Corey Perry (90) celebrate a goal against the Kings during the third period of an NHL playoff game in Edmonton on Sunday, April 27, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

1 of 10

Expand

EDMONTON, Alberta — In the three previous playoff battles against the Edmonton Oilers, it’s been a red-hot power play that’s burnt the Kings — this year, it’s been holding third period leads.

For the third time in four games, the Kings couldn’t hold off the Oilers and instead of talking about a 3-1 series lead — the best-of-seven series is now deadlocked at 2-2 after forward Leon Draisaitl scored his first-career playoff overtime goal on the power play with 1:42 remaining in the first OT on Sunday night at Rogers Place.

Defenseman Evan Bouchard scored twice, including the tying marker with 29 seconds left in the game, and Corey Perry also tallied his second of the series in the comeback win for Edmonton.

The Kings played a near perfect road game stifling the potent Oilers offense through 40 minutes and led 3-1 on goals from Trevor Moore, Warren Foegele and Kevin Fiala, but Edmonton rallied and found a way to send this series back to Los Angeles deadlocked, in a series that for the most part the Kings have held the clear edge in play.

“Right before they tied it, Kevin [Fiala] came down and hit the post… we’re talking about bounces, and it’s a game of inches. We pushed a lot harder in this third [period] than Game 3,” said Foegele, who’s first goal of the series gave Edmonton a 2-0 lead early in the second.

“[It’s] a couple lucky bounces to be honest. That second goal [Bouchard’s first of the game], it hits a stick, bounces off the ice… they pushed hard, but I really liked our game.”

The Kings likely deserved at least a split after the series shifted up north to Edmonton for Games 3 and 4, but the series is now down to a best-of-three.

They were clearly the better team through the first two periods of Game 3, and while it certainly stings not being able to hold a third period lead, Kings head coach Jim Hiller doesn’t believe doubt is starting to set in on his team shot down any notion that his team is losing their confidence late in games.

“Next question, please. We’re that far away on the empty net. ‘Q’ [Quinton Byfield] chips that one out, Bouchard makes a good play, we’re not even talking about this. So, how about that?”

“We were skating. I thought we skated all game. It’s something we wanted to do to improve upon. I thought we skated a lot better tonight than we did in Game 3, 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.”

The Kings looked like they were poised to take a stranglehold in the series after a strong opening 20 minutes. Moore’s goal at the 10:35 mark of the first period gave his team a 1-0 lead in a period where they outshot the Oilers 14-6.

Foegele scored his first of the series against his former club just 1:31 into the second period, when he snuck behind two Oilers defensemen and was able to beat Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard with a quick shot to make it 2-0.

Perry’s power play marker at the 4:11 mark cut the Kings lead to 2-1, but like the Kings have done for most of this series, they didn’t buckle and were able to regain their two-goal lead after Fiala took a pass from Alex Laferriere and raced in behind the Oilers defense and beat Pickard with a backhand.

They were in full control, holding the Oilers to just 15 shots through the first two periods.

But down two goals, Edmonton played desperately, firing 15 third-period shots and then continuing to pile it on in OT with 18 more shots.

Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 44 saves in the loss for the Kings, and made several big stops in OT, before Draisaitl beat him in OT after Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov was called for tripping with 2:26 left in the first OT session.

“Darcy [Kuemper] was awesome, and we’ve got to find a way to get a win there. There were some big saves from him,” Kings forward Phillip Danault said.

“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 [in the third], you have to seal the deal and make those plays when it counts. It’s hard to win, especially on the visitor side.”

The Kings battled all season long for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, knowing it would be a big factor, as they won a franchise record 33 games at home this season [including playoffs].

While Edmonton took care of business at home to tie the series at 2-2, the Kings are confident they can regroup and find a way to close out the series — and that starts with aiming to get another win at home in Game 5 on Tuesday.

“Of course it’s painful [losses in Games 3 and 4], but that’s playoffs, though. It’s 2-2, it’s back to even. Now we go back home and play hard, put our heart on the line and anything can happen,” Danault said.

“That [home-ice advantage] could be the game-changer for us.”

Kings squander another 3rd period lead in Game 4 loss to Oilers Orange County Register

News Details

Kings squander another 3rd period lead in Game 4 loss to Oilers

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

News

CONTACT INFO

QUICK LINKS

SERVICES

CURRENT NEWS