Oilers defeat Kings in Game 6 of Western First Round, even series

LOS ANGELES -- Tyson Barrie scored the go-ahead goal at 14:50 of the third period, and the Edmonton Oilers evened their Western Conference First Round series against the Los Angeles Kings with a 4-2 win in Game 6 at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday.

The best-of-7 series is tied 3-3. Game 7 will be in Edmonton on Saturday.
"We gave it back to them a little bit, but we didn't break and we found a way to get one and I think it shows a lot of character in that group," Barrie said. "And now we've got home ice and we're headed back for Game 7. I think the boys are pretty pumped."
RELATED: [Complete Oilers vs. Kings series coverage]
Evander Kane scored twice and had an assist, and Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists for the Oilers, the No. 2 seed from the Pacific Division. Mike Smith made 30 saves.
"I thought our players really dug in and found a way to win," Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said.
Sean Durzi and Carl Grundstrom scored for the Kings, the No. 3 seed from the Pacific. Jonathan Quick made 33 saves.
"Somebody a few years ago said that usually the fourth game is the toughest one to win. Pretty sure you guys know who it is," said Kings captain Anze Kopitar, referring to current Calgary Flames coach Darryl Sutter, who led Los Angeles to the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014. "Obviously there's something to it. We would have liked to close it out, but it didn't happen, and we got to move on and look ahead to Saturday."
Barrie gave the Oilers a 3-2 lead with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle.
"(For) whatever reason, there was a big gap between me and [Leon Draisaitl], and I just saw that I could jump in and kind of make it an odd-man (rush), and he made a nice little sauce over to me and kind of got lucky to beat 'Quickie' there," Barrie said. … "So, just kind of a nice to see that one go in."

McDavid scored on a wraparound at 1:40 of the first period to make it 1-0, and Kane made it 2-0 at 1:50 of the second period. Brett Kulak's initial shot from the left point was saved, but Kane tipped in the rebound.
McDavid played a game-high 24:02, starting alongside Draisaitl and working together frequently after they sparked a comeback in the third period of a 5-4 overtime loss in Game 5 on Tuesday. McDavid had six shots on goal and was plus-3.
"He sets the tone for us again early, but you can see his battle level," Barrie said. "He's in every battle, above every check. He's doing everything right and you can tell how bad he wants this, so we're lucky to have him on our side. We've got to get one more for him here."

Durzi cut it to 2-1 at 13:59 on a wrist shot from the high slot through traffic 10 seconds into a power play, and Grundstrom tied it 29 seconds into the third period with a wrist shot from the left circle to make it 2-2.
Kane scored an empty-net goal with one minute left for the 4-2 final.
"Hey, it's the playoffs," Kopitar said. "It's going to be tight, and we were down 2-0. It didn't faze us too much. I mean, we knew we had to get one on the power play at some point, so that was big. And then, obviously, (we) tie it up pretty early in the third. Just couldn't push it over the line."
NOTES: Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse did not play after receiving a one-game suspension from the NHL Department of Player Safety on Wednesday for head-butting Kings center Phillip Danault in Game 5 in Edmonton on Tuesday. … McDavid set a career high with 12 points this postseason. He is the 10th player in Oilers history to have at least 10 points in a playoff series. … Draisaitl had one assist, two shots and won 11 of 15 face-offs in 18:25 of ice time. … Edmonton played with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, inserting defensemen Kris Russell and Philip Broberg into the lineup with Nurse unavailable. Broberg, a first-round pick (No. 8) in the 2019 NHL Draft, made his playoff debut. He blocked one shot in 3:16. … Kopitar got his 48th career playoff assist on Durzi's goal, tying Luc Robitaille for second in Kings history. Wayne Gretzky leads with 65.