Edmonton Oilers push L.A. Kings to brink of elimination with Game 5 win

Gemma Karstens-Smith · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 30, 2025 12:22 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

Zach Hyman knows radical started counting the Oilers retired aft Edmonton stumbled to commencement this season's playoff campaign.

The squad didn't springiness up and, connected Tuesday, that persistence was rewarded with a 3-1 triumph implicit the L.A. Kings successful Game 5.

Edmonton present holds a 3-2 pb successful the best-of-seven bid and tin beforehand Thursday erstwhile the first-round matchup shifts backmost to Alberta for Game 6.

"If you conscionable don't spell away, if you support believing, you springiness yourself a accidental to win," Hyman said. "Playoffs are an affectional roller-coaster for some teams. You person to marque definite you tin dependable yourself."

"Even aft a triumph similar tonight, it's backmost to business. We person a immense accidental to adjacent it retired astatine location and that's the mindset close now."

Edmonton pressed from the outset Tuesday, outshooting L.A. 19-4 crossed the archetypal period.

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The Kings did not registry a changeable connected extremity until much than 8 minutes into the opening framework erstwhile Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard denied Kevin Fiala from the broadside of the nett during an L.A. powerfulness play.

"The feeling aft the archetypal play was we're outplaying them and we person them wherever we privation them and we person to support pushing the gas," said Mattias Janmark.

The fourth-line centre gave the Oilers the pb astatine the 7:12 people of the 2nd play aft Viktor Arvidsson's changeable pinged disconnected the pad of Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper. Janmark collected the rebound and popped it successful to springiness Edmonton a 2-1 cushion.

The Oilers person chased the Kings for overmuch of the bid and mislaid Games 1 and 2 aft surrendering six goals successful each.

Something flipped for the squad midway done Game 4, wherever Edmonton took power successful the 3rd play en way to a 4-3 overtime win, said winger Evander Kane.

"It was a bully reminder of however we tin play erstwhile we're urgent and desperate," helium said. "And we wanted to travel retired with that aforesaid mindset tonight. And I deliberation we did a large occupation of that."

The Oilers outshot the Kings 46-21 implicit 3 periods connected Tuesday, lone to beryllium repeatedly denied by Kuemper.

Facing a blistery netminder tin origin a crippled to spell awry, said Pickard, who stopped 20 shots connected the night.

"It was 1 of those games wherever you could person got distant from it due to the fact that it wasn't going successful the net," helium said. "And recognition to their goalie, helium played fantastic. But we didn't stray distant from the crippled program and got rewarded for it successful the extremity and buckled down."

The cardinal to beating a goalie who's playing good is simply to support going, Hyman said.

On Tuesday, the Oilers did.

"In the playoffs, determination are games wherever you person 10 shots and you win, we've done that. And past determination are games wherever you person 45 and you're lone capable to people two, and you conscionable person to instrumentality with it," Hyman said.

"You don't cognize what benignant of crippled it's going to be. But if we play similar the mode we played tonight, we're going to beryllium connected the close broadside of things much often than not."

Call it a comeback

Edmonton fell down 1-0 erstwhile L.A. winger Andrei Kuzmenko scored a power-play marker aboriginal successful the mediate frame.

For the 3rd crippled successful a row, the Oilers rallied for a comeback victory.

The three-game agelong marks the archetypal clip successful franchise past that Edmonton has recorded 3 consecutive comeback wins.

Playoff Janmark

After signaling conscionable 2 goals implicit 80 regular-season games during the 2024-25 campaign, Janmark has 2 goals successful 5 playoff appearances this year.

The 32-year-old Swede besides contributed 4 goals and 4 assists successful 25 post-season games past twelvemonth erstwhile Edmonton made a tally to the Stanley Cup final.

Janmark said determination were times this season, erstwhile helium felt similar helium was playing truly well, but the goals didn't come.

"You privation to people always, but these are the moments that support you going. I had a comic feeling erstwhile crippled 70 deed and I lone had 1 oregon 2 goals, I knew I wasn't going to person a vocation year," helium said. "I had a feeling it mightiness amusement up successful the playoffs."