LOS ANGELES (AP) — Zach Hyman scored at 10:39 of overtime as the Edmonton Oilers rallied from three goals down late in the first period to beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-4 Sunday night to even their first-round series at two games. apiece.
Hyman’s snap shot from the left faceoff circle was his first goal of the playoffs.
“It was a great breakout pass,” Hyman said of his first playoff game-winning goal. “I was looking for a pass and it turned into a Grade A scoring chance. I was able to get it up and over and that was the game. It is probably the most important goal in my career.”
Leon Draisaitl had two goals and an assist for the Oilers, Evan Bouchard had a goal and two assists while Evander Kane forced OT with his third-period goal. Connor McDavid had three assists, and Jack Campbell, who came in after Stuart Skinner was pulled after one period, made 27 saves against his former team.
“I think all playoff games are big tests, but this one was massive for our group. I thought we responded well,” said Draisaitl, who leads the league in playoff scoring with nine points (five goals, four assists). “It is not an easy team to come back against. We came back in waves in the second period and put ourselves back into it.”
Viktor Arvidsson had a goal and an assist for the Kings, while Kevin Fiala had two assists in his first game since April 1. Gabriel Vilardi, Anze Kopitar and Matt Roy also scored for the Kings while Joonas Korpisalo stopped 35 shots. Phillip Danault also had two assists.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Edmonton.
Los Angeles dominated the first period and raced out to a 3-0 lead to chase Skinner. Edmonton then took control in the second to tie it at 3, including a pair of power-play goals.
It was an even played third period as it went to overtime for the third time in the series.
“We gave up the lead in the second period but we lost it in overtime,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “The start for us was tremendous, it was something we haven’t had in the series. It has been a strange series, the team that gets in the lead kind of takes their foot off the gas,”
A lower-body injury sidelined Fiala for the Kings’ last six-regular season contests as well as the first three games of this series. He had played in only three of the final 16 regular-season games after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Colorado’s Andrew Cogliano on March 9.
Fiala made his impact felt quickly with two assists in the first period. Vilardi put in a rebound at 9:25 to open the scoring after Skinner made a pad save on Fiala’s backhand. Fiala also had an assist on Kopitar’s power-play goal with 1:49 left in the period as the Kings scored twice in 84 seconds to extend their lead to 3-0.
Bouchard began the comeback at 4:55 of the second with a slap shot from the point on the power play. Draisaitl then evened it with a pair of goals. His one-timer midway through the period was the Oilers’ first even-strength goal since late in Game 2.
Draisaitl then tied it at 3 with 10.5 seconds remaining in the period with the Oilers’ second power-play goal. This one was a wrist shot that beat Korpisalo on his blocker side.
Roy’s backhand in front of the net at 4:28 of the third put LA back on top 4-3 before Kane forced overtime with 3:02 remaining with a snap shot to the far side that Korpisalo was unable to get with his glove.
TOUGH NIGHT FOR SKINNER
Skinner was pulled at the first intermission after he allowed three goals on 11 shots in the opening 20 minutes.
Edmonton’s rookie goaltender gave up a pair of goals in an 84-second span late in the first period. Arvidsson went five hole with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle after getting the puck near the blue line and making a spin move to get past Oilers defenseman Vincent Desharnais.
Kopitar then decked Skinner and put in a power-play goal to put LA up 3-0.
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