A huge hit on Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane changed this series on Friday night. Los Angeles Kings defenseman Andreas Englund laid Kane out in the neutral zone with a blind-side hit. Kane never saw him coming.
He scored a goal and assisted on his Gordie Howe hat-trick when he dropped the gloves with Englund. In total, 92 penalty minutes were handed out in the third period of game three.
Leon Draisaitl had two goals and one assist, and Zach Hyman had two goals to lead the Oilers over the Kings 6-1. Edmonton now leads the series two games to one.
Oilers Start Strong on the Road in Game 3
The Oilers got on the board first. A terrible turnover by Drew Doughty was gobbled up by Mattias Ekholm, and he found Zach Hyman alone in front of the net to make it 1-0. It wasn’t a pretty goal, but he battled Kings goaltender Cam Talbot to push the puck into the net.
The Edmonton machine was running hot, and two quick goals made it 3-0. Leon Draisaitl got the second goal after the puck looked to bounce off the side of the net, but it wasn’t a bounce. It was an intentional pass from Evander Kane to Draisaitl. Darnel Nurse got the secondary assist.
The third goal was Connor McDavid from Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard. Paired together tonight, McDavid and Draisaitl found a way to beat the Kings’ 1-3-1 neutral zone trap. A pass into the zone from Draisaitl sent McDavid down the left side alone, He put it past Talbot to make it 3-0.
The Oilers Offense Dominated the Kings
Drew Doughty made up for his first-period turnover to get the Kings their first goal. He got a beautiful pass from Quinton Byfield on a back-door cut. Doughty put it in an open net at 5:32, and it was 3-1 Oilers.
But the Oilers got their three-goal lead back just two minutes later. Evander Kane set up in front of the net and deflected a Codi Ceci shot from the point past Cam Talbot. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got an assist on the goal for his first point in this series, and it was 4-1 Oilers.
Stuart Skinner Shuts the Door on the Kings
The Kings had their legs moving to start the third period. They had several chances, but they were shut down by Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner. Everyone is talking about the Kane hit, but Skinner was magnificent. The Kings had several good chances, but they were stopped by the Oilers’ goaltender. He made 27 stops on the Kings’ 28 shots.
Kings coach Jim Hiller was furious with the penalties after the hit on Kane. Edmonton ended up with a five-on-three power play. The Oilers got one on the two-man advantage and another power-play goal by Leon Draisaitl to make it 6-1 Edmonton.
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Bradley Tachco is a career journalist. I spent 12+ years at CNN as a writer and producer. My sports: NHL, MLB, NFL. My goal: unique content. And my teams are the Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Bills (yes, I’m a masochist), and the Los Angeles Dodgers. I have been a Dodgers fan since I was old enough to think. I have gone through decades of despair with all three franchises. You can follow Bradley on X @p09691
