Edmonton Oilers give themselves more runway by extending series with L.A. Kings

Donna Spencer · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 28, 2025 3:17 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

Time is connected the broadside of the Edmonton Oilers aft extending their playoff bid with the Los Angeles Kings.

Edmonton limped into the post-season with respective cardinal players missing aggregate games, oregon longer, down the agelong arsenic they tried to regain their signifier astatine the commencement of the series.

Sunday's 4-3 overtime triumph successful Game 4 astatine Rogers Place not lone squared up the best-of-seven bid astatine 2 wins apiece heading backmost to Los Angeles connected Tuesday, but lengthened the Oilers' runway to footwear their squad cohesion into a higher gear.

"The longer we tin resistance this out, I deliberation it'll payment us," said Oilers guardant and overtime leader Leon Draisaitl, who missed each but 1 of Edmonton's past twelve games of the regular play with an undisclosed injury.

"With each game, we're going to find a small spot much from each and each guy."

Zach Hyman sat retired the past 3 games of regular play and skipper Connor McDavid played 3 of the past 13.

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Evander Kane's 2 games successful this bid were his archetypal since Game 2 of past year's Stanley Cup final. He contributed a extremity and an assistance to Edmonton's 7-3 triumph successful Game 3.

Kane missed the full regular play due to the fact that of September sports hernia surgery, January genu country and the accompanying rehab.

Defender John Klingberg appeared successful conscionable 11 regular-season games aft signing with Edmonton successful January pursuing treble hep surgery. He was backmost connected the support aft blocking a changeable with his ankle March 27 earlier returning for Game 2.

"I consciousness good," Klingberg said. "This is the champion I've moved truthful far, I think, connected the ice. The clip disconnected with my ankle and the meds astir apt helped my hips a small bit."

Forward Trent Frederic played 1 regular-season crippled for the Oilers aft helium was acquired astatine the commercialized deadline due to the fact that of a precocious ankle sprain. He joined the lineup for the playoffs.

"It's not casual erstwhile you person a clump of guys retired of the lineup and there's not overmuch consistency with lines, with lineups, with players," Hyman said. "When players are healthy, it doesn't hap close away.

"If you miss a batch of time, you request a crippled to get caught up to velocity oregon a mates games. It's hard to bash that successful the playoffs wherever everything is magnified.

"We person a clump of guys who are starting to consciousness truly bully and starting to consciousness much similar themselves and I deliberation that lone helps our team."

But the Oilers keenly consciousness the continued lack of big-minute defenceman Mattias Ekholm, who didn't marque it backmost into the lineup for the series.

That's altered Edmonton's back-end chemistry, peculiarly for his antiaircraft spouse Evan Bouchard.

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Bouchard was minus-three over the archetypal 2 periods of Game 4, but compensated connected the violative broadside of the ledger with a brace of third-period goals to nonstop it to overtime.

"We've got a batch of bully hockey players, a batch of guys who unluckily had missed time, truthful they're not astatine their apical performance," Oilers caput manager Kris Knoblauch said earlier Game 4.

"We've got different guys who are conscionable coming backmost too, that person been missed, not lone them individually, but besides collectively connected who they're playing with and getting immoderate cohesion."

Edmonton won the special-teams conflict for the archetypal clip successful the bid Sunday with 2 goals connected 3 power-play chances, portion holding the Kings scoreless connected 3 chances.

After 38 saves successful Game 4, expect regular-season backup Calvin Pickard backmost successful nett Tuesday.

The Kings played a shorter seat than the Oilers successful Game 4. L.A. relied heavy connected 4 defencemen and 9 forwards.

"You're trying to deterioration the different radical down. They're trying to deterioration america down," McDavid said. "I deliberation possibly we're utilizing much guys than they are, which is simply a positive."

The Oilers volition request a roadworthy triumph astatine Crypto.com Arena to instrumentality the series, wherever the Kings are the winningest location squad successful the NHL.

"We judge we tin triumph successful immoderate building," McDavid said.