Oilers score 6, top Kings in Game 3 to retake lead in Western 1st Round

LOS ANGELES -- Leon Draisaitl had two goals and an assist, Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 6-1 in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round to retake the series lead at Crypto.com Arena on Friday.

Edmonton leads the best-of-7 series 2-1. Game 4 will be in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Zach Hyman scored twice, Evander Kane had a goal and an assist and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had three assists for the Oilers, who are the second seed from the Pacific Division. Stuart Skinner made 27 saves.

“I thought it was a good win,” McDavid said. “I thought we did a lot of good things. Obviously special teams was great. I thought ‘Stu’ was a rock back there. Penalty kill did its thing, and 5-on-5, we were solid, I thought, so a lot of positives. But it just counts as one win, that’s all. Got to be ready for a big one Sunday.”

Drew Doughty scored, and Cam Talbot allowed six goals on 40 shots for the Kings, who are the third seed from the Pacific Division.

“I mean, I think our effort was there,” Los Angeles defenseman Matt Roy said. “I don’t think it was a lack of that. Obviously, the game didn’t go the way we wanted to, but it’s 2-1 in the series. Could have lost 10-1, it doesn’t matter. It’s 2-1, and we’re just going to bounce back and get ready to go.”

Hyman gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead at 6:42 of the first period, putting in his own rebound at the left post.

“Obviously, Zach is always around the net and he’s always going to be there to bang those in,” McDavid said. He gets us going on a big goal on a great play from [Mattias Ekholm]. It’s a big one, getting the first one on the road in their building, it’s big.”

Draisaitl made it 2-0 at 15:36 on a sharp-angle shot from the bottom of the left circle.

McDavid extended it to 3-0 at 18:35 after beating Talbot at the right post with a wrist shot from close range on the power play. It was his first goal of the series and 30th of his career in the playoffs.

“From the beginning, it feels like we were not there,” Kings forward Kevin Fiala said. “I think they were more hungry. They had more chances. And so, we just have to be ready the next game.”

Doughty cut it to 3-1 at 5:32 of the second period, putting Quinton Byfield’s cross-slot pass into an open net from the right circle.

Kane made it 4-1 at 7:39, tipping in Cody Ceci’s slap shot from the blue line.

“Those are those momentum shifts that everyone talks about all the time,” Draisaitl said. “Those are big, especially in away buildings in the playoffs, so it was a big goal by ‘Kaner.’”

Hyman’s second goal pushed it to 5-1 during a two-man advantage at 6:37 of the third period when he tapped in McDavid’s pass at the top of the crease.

“He’s always willing to go there and pay a price, and he’s done that so far this playoffs,” McDavid said of Hyman, who has scored six goals in the series.

Draisaitl made it 6-1 at 12:38 with his second goal on a one-timer off a pass from McDavid during another two-man advantage.

“I thought after we gave up one, we got back to our game and [had] a solid effort,” Draisaitl said.

McDavid became the second player in NHL history to have at least eight assists through the first three games of a playoff series. Wayne Gretzky had nine assists against the Kings in the 1987 Smythe Division Semi-Finals and eight against the Montreal Canadiens in the 1981 Preliminary Round.

Edmonton was 3-for-7 on the power play. Los Angeles was 0-for-5.

The Kings are 0-for-10 with the man-advantage in the series.

“They’re good players,” Roy said. “We have to stay out of the box, obviously. And we just need to play our game, play five-(man) structured hockey, and we like our team and like what we can do.”

NOTES: Hyman is the 13th player in NHL history to score at least six goals through the first three games of a postseason. He and Mark Stone, who had six goals for the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019, are the only two to do it in the past 30 years. … Kings center Anze Kopitar played in his 95th career playoff game and passed Luc Robitaille (94) for most in franchise history.