Oilers one win away from closing out playoff series with Kings after 6-3 win
By Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press on April 26, 2023.
EDMONTON – Trade-deadline acquisition Nick Bjugstad scored twice and Zach Hyman contributed a goal off his chin to the Edmonton Oilers’ 6-3 win Tuesday over the Los Angeles Kings to take a 3-2 lead in their playoff series. The Oilers have a chance to close it out in Saturday’s Game 6 in Los Angeles. A Game 7, if required, would be Monday back in Edmonton. The NHL regular-season’s highest scoring team has kicked into high gear with a combined 11 goals in back-to-back wins. Leon Draisaitl, with his league-leading sixth playoff goal, Evander Kane and Brett Kulak also scored Tuesday for Edmonton. Oilers captain Connor McDavid assisted on a pair of goals, as did defencemen Mattias Ekholm and Darnell Nurse. Stuart Skinner returned to Edmonton’s net after he was swapped out for Jack Campbell a period into Edmonton’s Game 4 overtime win Sunday. The 24-year-old Edmontonian appearing in his first NHL post-season made 25 saves for the win. “It feels nice being able to go back in, kind of try to redeem myself,” Skinner said. “But I still think I have a lot to give the team here.” His Los Angeles counterpart Joonas Korpisalo was pulled for Pheonix Copley in the second period when Bjugstad scored his second and Edmonton’s fourth of the game. Korpisalo has faced more rubber than any other goalie this post-season with 177 shots. The Finn stopped 15 of 19 before giving way to Copley and his six saves. Quinton Byfield, Adrian Kempe and Alex Iafallo scored for the Kings. The Oilers killed off their single penalty Tuesday. The league’s best power-play converted two of three chances to be 8-for-14 with a man-advantage in the series. “We have to try and stay out of the box as much as we can,” Kempe said. “It’s a big factor, and they got two tonight on the power play. “We’ve got to clean up some stuff. Our play in our own zone was not really good from the start.” The Oilers picked up the 30-year-old Bjugstad and a prospect from the Arizona Coyotes the day before the March 3 trade deadline for a prospect and a draft pick. “Very fortunate to jump on this squad at deadline,” Bjugstad said. “I would do anything to win a Stanley Cup, so just to be a part of that and continue to chip away and be a part of the grind and trying to get better every day, there’s nothing better than this.” Playing on a line with Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the first of Bjugstad’s two goals was key Tuesday. The Oilers led 3-2 midway through the second period when Bjugstad tipped Cody Ceci’s shot from the blue-line under Korpisalo to end the goalie’s night. “The fourth one really hurt us,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “From there, there was no catching up. “That’s not close to good enough. That doesn’t get you a win in game two of the regular season.” Bjugstad floated a backhand toward the net that went off the skate of Kings defenceman Mikey Anderson and across the goal-line early in the third period for his second goal. “It was a fun one. Fans are buzzing here,” the Minnesotan observed in the Oilers Hall of Fame as orange-clad fans chanted at the windows. “It’s hard not to get distracted right now, but we’ve got to bring that same mentality to L.A. here in a few days.” Game 4 overtime hero Hyman scored Edmonton’s fifth goal with his face. The puck flying end over end on an Evan Bouchard slapshot deflected off Hyman’s chin and under Copley at 15:47 of the second period. Hyman shook off the discomfort and continued to play. “Luckily Bouch didn’t get all of it, but if he’d got all of it, it probably wouldn’t have gone where it went, so take that trade-off any day for a goal,” Hyman said. “I’ve got a bunch off of different parts of my body, but that’s the first one off my face. That’s the way you score in playoffs. You get a pretty goal here and there, but a lot of it is going to those tough areas and finding loose change.” Edmonton’s sustained offensive pressure midway through the second period was pivotal. The Oilers cycled the puck and worked to keep it onside for Bjugstad’s insurance tip-in. “It was a critical point in the game for us,” head coach Jay Woodcroft said. “I thought that was a big goal because we felt we had the bulk of the play, but it’s nice to get rewarded with a goal like that.” As they did in the first two games of this series at Rogers Place, the Oilers took an early 2-0 lead. “We got out of the gate quick and asserted the way we wanted the game to be played,” Woodcroft said. “They punched back. They’re a good team and we stuck with it. “We continued to put hard miles on their team and we found goals up and down our lineup.” The Kings were minus forward Blake Lizotte (lower-body) for a third straight game. Edmonton was without forward Mattias Janmark a fourth game after he blocked a shot with his foot in Game 1. NOTES With an assist, Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard extended his point streak to five games (two goals, six assists), which is the longest in the playoffs for an Edmonton blueliner since Charlie Huddy’s two goals and three assists in four games in 1988. Huddy was in attendance Tuesday. “¦ The Kings’ power play is 5-for-18 in the series. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2023. 38-37
