Oilers use balanced attack to take 2-1 series lead against Kings

LOS ANGELES -- There may be nothing more encouraging to the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference First Round against the Los Angeles Kings than their balanced scoring.

The Oilers lead the best-of-7 series 2-1 after a second straight lopsided win, this time 8-2 at Crypto.com Arena on Friday. Edmonton won 6-0 in Game 2 at home after losing the series opener 4-3.
The Oilers lead the NHL with 17 goals in the first three games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and captain Connor McDavid, who was the NHL leader with 123 points (44 goals, 79 assists) in 80 games during the regular season, has scored one.
"It takes everybody up and down the lineup," said McDavid, who had two assists in Game 3 and has scored six points (one goal, five assists) in the series. "I thought Ryan McLeod's] line tonight was great too. They brought a lot of energy, a lot of jump and were physical, hard on guys. Again, it takes all, and I thought we got contributions up and down the lineup."
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Edmonton's goals are coming from just about everywhere.
Evander Kane leads the Oilers with five in the series, including a hat trick in Game 3. Leon Draisaitl has scored one goal in each game. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman each scored two goals in Game 3, and Edmonton also has received goals from Darnell Nurse, Jesse Puljujarvi, Kailer Yamamoto and McLeod.
"I think coming into the playoffs, you're excited," Kane said after his first NHL playoff hat trick. "I think our group has a lot of self-belief, and guys want to take their game to the next level, and you're seeing that throughout our lineup."

With more depth scoring, the past knock on the Oilers that they depended on McDavid and Draisaitl to do it all seems like a fading memory.
"[We're] just finding ways to win games," McDavid said. "That's all that matters this time of year. It doesn't really matter how it looks or what happens. I think we've done a good job of playing well, playing hard, we've been physical. They kind of pushed back today (when Edmonton took a 5-0 lead), and I thought we responded well."
The balanced scoring attack seems to have invigorated Edmonton in many ways, particularly in terms of confidence.
"Composure, calm, good communication," coach Jay Woodcroft said. "I really liked the talk on our bench when the other team pushed at the end of the second period. Our guys were saying the right things.
"I feel a real esprit de corps among our group, people who are working hard for each other. It's a fun group to stand behind."
After a tight first game, the Oilers have outscored the Kings 14-2 and would appear to be dominating at this point.
"I wouldn't say that," Woodcroft said. "The score of the game doesn't matter if it's 2-1 in triple overtime or a little more lopsided. That doesn't matter. That is one game."
Kane said the Oilers won't be getting ahead of themselves for Game 4 in Los Angeles on Sunday (10 p.m. ET; TBS, CBC, SN, TVAS, BSW).
"I don't really think we look at it as 14-2," he said. "I think we're looking at as we're up 2-1 in this series with a really important game on Sunday. So I think that's our focus moving forward."
Kane said he liked Edmonton's focus with the lead in Game 3 and wants to see more of it.
"They get their fans back in the building (Friday), they probably get some energy on their bench," he said. "But we come out and we stick with it and we have a strong third period and we continue to push the pace and not sit back. I think that's a real key to winning. When you get leads, it's what do you do with them. Do you sit back and be comfortable or do you continue to push? And I think we're doing a good job of that."