GAME RECAP: Oilers 1, Kings 0 (Game 4)

LOS ANGELES, CA – Goaltender Stuart Skinner made 33 saves for his first-career playoff shutout while Evan Bouchard picked up the solitary power-play goal for the Oilers, who heroically defended their way to a 1-0 victory over the Kings in Game 4 at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday to push Los Angeles to the brink of elimination in the First Round.

Bouchard converted the Oilers' only power play and the game's only goal during the second period to give the Blue & Orange a slender one-goal lead they would protect bravely over the remaining half of the game despite facing a 33-13 deficit in shots.

Skinner played terrific for the full 60 minutes to earn his first-career post-season clean sheet, becoming the first Oilers goalie since Mike Smith in Game 7 of the 2022 First Round against Los Angeles to register a playoff shutout.

"Stuart was very solid. That's an understatement of how well he played," Knoblauch said. "I thought our guys did a good job defending. I know they had a lot of shots, but I think a lot of them were from the perimeter. He did make a lot of key saves for us and his game was really good, and I don't think anyone questioned if he was ever going to make the next save."

"We were very pleased to have him playing the way he did tonight."

Edmonton's penalty kill came up clutch on their only call to action midway through the third period, turning aside the Kings' only chance with the man advantage before the Oilers locked down their one-goal victory with a commitment to defending over the final 10 minutes of regulation.

"It's been amazing to watch," Skinner said of his team's defending. "Obviously the guy sitting next to me [Bouchard], but also all the D-core and all the forwards for the number of blocked shots they had. I'm not too sure how many it was tonight.

"The guys were grinding for me and we were just getting through to every single puck. We were getting pucks in and when we were getting hemmed in the D-zone, we were able to win some battles on the boards and be able to kind of flip pucks out.

"I think we just really played a man's game out there and I'm really proud of the group."

The one-goal triumph gives the Oilers a 3-1 series lead heading back to Oil Country for Game 5 on Wednesday at Rogers Place, where they'll have a chance to eliminate LA and advance to the Western Conference Second Round for the third straight postseason.

"We're just going to have to play a lot more hockey like that and we can't always dictate how the game's going to go," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "We're going to have to win a lot more games like we did tonight."

FIRST PERIOD

With so much importance being placed on the first 10 minutes by both teams, the Kings came out on Sunday and played exactly like a team that would've been feeling like their backs were against the wall despite only trailing 2-1 in the series after their 6-1 thumping in Game 3 on Friday.

The Kings needed a good response in front of their own fans to keep the Oilers from gaining an even bigger advantage heading back to Oil Country for Game 5 on Wednesday, and physicality was LA's mantra early in the contest.

The Kings began the game trying to grind the Oilers down with a high-intensity approach that saw their speed and physicality lead to a lot of heavy forechecks against Edmonton's defencemen and couple of open-ice hits – with none bigger than Drew Doughty's on Zach Hyman inside the LA blueline that marked LA's 20th hit of the game with 6:20 still to play in the opening period.

Edmonton was outshot in the first frame and tested David Rittich in the LA crease with only four shots, but a couple of high-danger looks for the Oilers kept him on his toes after he was given the assignment to start Game 4 in favour of Cam Talbot after the former Oilers netminder allowed 17 combined goals in the opening three games.

Leon Draisaitl had the best look late in the period when Evander Kane turned the puck loose near the Kings' bench and pushed it ahead to the German for a breakaway, but pressure from the Kings' defenceman forced him into releasing a quick shot that Rittich stopped with his left pad, sending Edmonton's best chance to the wayside and keeping it 0-0 through the opening 20 minutes.

SECOND PERIOD

"The message has always been take what's given," Knoblauch said post-game about the Oilers' power play. "Whatever team we're playing, take what's given, and that first power play, it was Bouch's time to take what's given."

You just can't give this Oilers power play an opening with the way it's now provided eight goals in 15 opportunities in the series, and there was only one look  Bouchard had on the man advantage to deliver his patented 'Bouch Bomb' and grab a vital opening goal for Edmonton near the midway mark of the middle stanza.

"We were kind of just taking what they were giving us – whether that was the shot up top or a play down low. We were kind of just improvising."

The middle frame was a lot more managed than the opening 20 minutes as the Kings and Oilers settled into a chess match with the game balancing on a tightrope. That was until an official's holding call against a stickless Andreas Englund on Ryan McLeod gave Edmonton's red-hot man advantage a chance to break things open.

The Oilers' power play continued its dominance over the Kings in the second period when Bouchard blasted one over Rittich's left pad at 8:11 of the frame to give his team a 1-0 lead. The Oilers scored their eighth power-play goal against the Kings in their last four post-season meetings, becoming the first team since the Washington Capitals to score eight PPGs in the first 4 games of a playoff series, while Draisaitl extended his playoff point streak to four games with an assist.

Bouchard's blast was his eighth career post-season goal and his sixth on the power play, and the Oakville, ON product continues to be one of the League's best playoff performers with the defenceman now having the third-most points amongst NHL defencemen over the last three postseasons with 32 points (8G, 24A).

With a lead secured, the Kings were still firmly on the front foot with the majority of play, ultimately winning the high-danger scoring chance battle 8-0 in the second period, so the focus shifted toward Edmonton's crease and Skinner's ability to defend the lead.

Less than a minute after the Oilers scored on the power play, the Kings were pressing hard for an equalizer when Viktor Arvidsson wrapped around the net and forced Skinner into two critical in-close saves to keep LA from answering back immediately.

It was only one of many vital interventions from the netminder over the full 60 minutes to keep his team – albeit by a narrow margin – in front. Despite the Oilers only registering 10 shots in the first two periods, Skinner was perfect heading into the final frame after making all 20 saves required.

THIRD PERIOD

One shot. One opportunity.

With the one goal they needed already secured, picking up the win for Edmonton would require their penalty kill to remain perfect on their one call to action in the final frame, and for one person between the pipes to carry them through to a 3-1 series advantage going back to Oil Country.

Skinner snatched away a dangerous snap shot from Arvidsson just before its seven-minute mark to draw his 10th save of the third period, with the netminder looking locked in for what was going to be a hard push down the stretch from the Kings as they chased an equalizer in Game 4. That confidence the Oilers' players saw in Skinner provided them the confidence to go out and play for their netminder.

"We knew they were going to have a push, but Stu did what he's done all season," Corey Perry said. "He's a rock back there and we fed off that."

The Edmonton product made another save on Arvidsson at 11:11 of the period, making a wish and taking away the Swede's effort with a left-toe save, but Brett Kulak would be called for high-sticking Trevor Moore on the play to send the Kings to their only power play of the evening where they'd try and replicate the Oilers' 1-for-1 success with the man advantage.

But the Oilers' penalty kill, faced with the task of coming up clutch with their team down a man for two minutes extended their perfect return this series to 11-for-11 by turning aside LA's power play that hasn't provided them any momentum in their first four games against Edmonton. The Kings remain the only team in the 2024 Playoffs who've yet to register a power-play goal, but the large majority of that falls on the effectiveness of the Oilers' penalty kill in this series keeping them off the board.

The Kings pulled Rittich for the extra attacker, but they were unable to generate any sustained last-minute pressure to challenge Edmonton's slim hold on the lead and Skinner's grip on his first-career shutout.

"They definitely gave me a hard time out there," Skinner said. "It's a lot of work I've put into trying to make saves look easy. I don't think any save in the NHL is easy, to be honest. It's a hard league and just like I was saying, LA brings it every single night. They're obviously a great team. I was sweating a lot by the end of the third, so they definitely made it hard on us."

Coach Knoblauch was pleased with his team's commitment toward protecting the blue paint in the final period by doing whatever was necessary to get themselves over the line and back to Edmonton with a 3-1 series lead. Down the stretch, they'll have to win more games the same way, and Sunday was another assurance that they can win games with defence.

"We can't rely on scoring three or four or five goals to get those victories, and it's the playoffs – there are going to be a lot more 1-0 and 2-1 kind of hockey games," Knoblauch said. "The shots weren't in our favour, but overall, I was very pleased with how we played – especially in the third period with a lead. We had guys blocking shots, getting pucks in deep and just winning so many puck battles."