Maybe it was the injuries coming down the stretch in April, or maybe it was that harmonica laden anthem – for whatever reason – the Oilers started off tonight slow.

The game got off to a bad start when Brett Kulak took a bad holding call just two minutes into the first period. The Kings wasted no time converting with Fiala feeding a wide open Kuzmenko the easiest tap-in goal of his career. The Oilers would get there own chance on the powerplay advantage after Drew Doughty laid a questionable check behind the Oilers net, but Edmonton was unable to convert.

The remainder of the period was characterized by forechecking and turnovers, with no team making headway until the final minute. Unfortunately, a bad rebound would find Stuart Skinner out of position – Quinton Byfield would send a wrist shot off Skinner’s back, and the Kings led into the second period 2-0.

Things only got worse for the Oilers. Edmonton wasn’t able to register a single shot as LA slowly built momentum. A bad turnover by Bouchard would lead to a shot from dead center ice – Skinner was able to make the intial save, but he wasn’t quick enough to stop a wraparound rebound from Adrian Kempe. 3-0 LA.

A beautiful pass (read: horrible turnover) by Bouchard to Danault would quickly extend the lead to 4,. This game was quickly getting out of reach. With only ten seconds left to go in the second period, Connor McDavid was able to find Leon Draisaitl for a one timer to prevent the shutout and keep Edmonton in the game.

Janmark would give Edmonton their second goal early into the third period – his first goal since January 27th – but the celebration was cut short as LA soon regained their lead on a 5-on-3 powerplay.

Undeterred, Edmonton struck back. Off a faceoff draw, Draisaitl wrestled control of the puck to Bouchard who quickly found McDavid; Under heavy pressure McDavid crashed the net and made a quick pass to Corey Perry for a tap in to keep Edmonton within reach.

It wouldn’t be the playoffs without a brutal coach’s challenge. LA was gifted their second 5-on-3 powerplay of the night after Walman put the puck over the glass. Knoblauch made the call to challenge, but the refs decided that it’s a normal occurence for pucks to start spinning in the air and change direction without any contact to glass.

The Edmonton Oilers, unphased by the new discovery in physics, were able to kill off the penalty and immediately put LA back onto the defensive.

With three minutes left to play and two goals down, Edmonton pulled their goalie and Zach Hyman scored with 2:04 remaining. Not shortly after, McDavid did what he does best and beat Kuemper cleanly to tie the game for the most energetic goal of the evening.

Unfortunately, Edmonton couldn’t complete the comeback. An absolutely brutal knuckler off an odd man rush was able to make its way past Skinner, who looked like he didn’t even see the puck. With 30 seconds left to play, this game was over.

It’s never fun to lose the first outing, but the Oilers made it clear this series will at least be a competitive one. Strong forechecking, good faceoffs, and absolutely no quit from the forward group – there are positives to take away from this game.

With that said, maybe start Pickard on Wednesday.