LA built a lead early, but was unable to fend off the Edmonton Oilers who completed the comeback in overtime.

McDavid started off the game with a strong defensive play to prevent a 2-on-1 breakaway, only to go to the box shortly after for hooking. The first penalty kill of the night was leagues ahead from what we’ve seen so far this series; Edmonton attacked LA relentlessly and never gave them a chance to establish a proper shooting lane.

Pickard made several huge saves in the first ten minutes, but eventually LA was able to capitalize off a bad turnover at the bottom of the right circle.

Edmonton had opportunities to strike back but just didn’t quite have the puck luck; the Oilers drew Kuemper out of position on a rush opporunity only for Hyman to miss the empty net. It wasn’t the first time this series that Zach Hyman has missed an empty net.

The ex-Oiler Warren Foegle extended LA’s lead after pushing Pickard’s pad to the side before tapping it in for an easy second goal. Edmonton oddly opted not to challenge for goaltender interference (Elliotte Friedman later argued in the intermission that the follow through might have played a factor). Calvin Pickard was insistent that the goal was no good, but the coaching bench thought otherwise.

On Edmonton’s first powerplay of the night Draisaitl managed to find Corey Perry in front of the crease; Kuemper made the first save, but Perry was able to bat the puck down out of the air and finish his own rebound to cut the lead in half.

LA again extended the lead when Kevin Fiala was able to beat both Nurse and Bouchard to gain the puck and enough time to shoot the puck past Calvin Pickard. The Nurse-Bouchard pairing just doesn’t seem to be working. Neither player seems to know when to take their man, and too often they get caught puck watching against a Kings squad that is finishing their chances – and they had plenty up to the halfway point – 23 shots to Edmonton’s 10.

After what felt like an eternity, Bouchard found a goal on a freaky-lucky bounce. His shot went wide but bounced off Drew Doughty’s skate, reversed directions, and flew directly into the LA net.

Frustration began to build after two missed calls kept LA at even strength. Connor Brown had his stick cleaved in two, and shortly after McDavid was tripped on a breakaway. No calls on either. Missing the slash was bad in isolation, but the missed trip was salt in the wound.

Unphased, Edmonton would rally to tie the game with only 30 seconds left to play. Bouchard started the sequence by keeping the puck in the zone. Draisaitl passed it down to Perry, who threw a pass into traffic and barely missed by Kane for a tap in from outside the crease. After some scrambling the puck made its way back to Evan Bouchard who fired it through heavy traffic to send this game into overtime.

There’s only one word that can be used to describe the Oilers in the final frame: relentless.

There were so many opportunities this period that I could have written a second blog post. Edmonton attacked with a non-stop voracity that gave flares of the ’22 Avalanche. That pressure came to a head when Connor McDavid drew a tripping call. Forty seconds later Leon Draisaitl sealed the comeback victory off a dirty rebound for the first playoff overtime goal of his career.

This comeback was a complete team effort, and couldn’t be more deserved. If you only watched overtime this game you would have wondered how LA ever managed to score in the first place – that’s how dominant the Oilers looked.

This series is now a best of 3 heading back to California; more to come Tuesday.