Evan Bouchard scored twice in Game 3, including the game-winning goal, in a third-period comeback to give the host Edmonton Oilers a 7-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Friday and new life in their Western Conference first-round series.
Connor McDavid scored once in a three-point game, Connor Brown tallied twice, Evander Kane collected one goal and one assist and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added a single for the Oilers, who trail the best-of-seven series 2-1.
Zach Hyman and Leon Draisaitl both posted two assists and goaltender Calvin Pickard made 24 saves for the Oilers in his first start of the series.
“We know we’re never out of a game no matter what. We got big goals when we needed,” Bouchard said.
Edmonton will try to tie the series on Sunday at home.
“It feels good right now to get that win, but it’s not going to do much if we don’t follow it up right in two days … and take this back to L.A. 2-2,” Draisaitl said.
Adrian Kempe, Trevor Moore and Drew Doughty all collected one goal and one assist for the Kings, who erased an early deficit but could not hold on to take a stranglehold of the series. Kevin Fiala also scored, while Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault both notched a pair of assists.
Los Angeles goalie Darcy Kuemper stopped 29 shots.
With time ticking down and possibly taking their playoff hopes with it, the Oilers scored a pair of goals nine seconds apart for the thrilling victory.
Kane, who missed all of the regular season, tied the clash with 6:42 remaining in regulation by tapping home a loose puck during a wild flurry.
The Kings lost a challenge for goaltender interference, which gave the Oilers a power play, and Bouchard netted his second tally with a nifty redirect while on the rush.
“We took plenty of time and we felt it was goaltender interference and challenged it,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Tonight, we lost, and it cost us big time.”
Empty-net goals by McDavid and Brown sealed the victory.
It ended another crazy clash in this series. Nugent-Hopkins opened the scoring by converting a wide-open chance at the 2:49 mark of the first period, and Bouchard doubled the lead on the power play six minutes later.
Kempe put the Kings on the board at 17:18, and Fiala tied the clash at 5:43 of the second period while on the power play. Kempe has collected four goals and five assists in the three games.
Doughty netted his team’s second power-play goal of the game — and seventh of the series — at 15:07 of the period to give the Kings a 3-2 lead.
Brown tied the clash at 17:19 of the back-and-forth second period by chipping a close-in chance, but Moore put the Kings ahead 4-3 nine seconds later when he buried a one-handed shot while holding off a check.
–Field Level Media
