The Edmonton Oilers continue their first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series against the Los Angeles Kings with Game 3 on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet and CBC or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock the Pre-Game Show that will begin at 7:30 p.m. MT, along with more exclusive live and behind-the-scenes content.

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS

GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game 3 at LAK
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
PRE-GAME RAW | Connor McDavid
PRE-GAME RAW | Evander Kane
PRE-GAME RAW | Kailer Yamamoto
RECENT VIDEOS
OILERS TODAY | Post-Game 2 vs. LAK



BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Kings Statistics
Stats Comparison
Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
BLOG: Kostin's legend in Oil Country grows

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VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Friday's game on Sportsnet & CBC at 8:00 PM MT.

INSIDE THE OILERS

News and notes from Game 2 on Wednesday, including Klim Kostin becoming an even bigger fan favourite and recording the game-winner with his first-career playoff goal against Los Angeles.
>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG

PRE-GAME REPORT

LOS ANGELES, CA -The Oilers vs. Kings first-round series has thus far followed the same script as their playoff encounter from one year ago, and Edmonton is hoping that trend continues with Game 3 tonight at Crypto.com Arena.
The teams split the first two matchups of their opening-round clash in both 2022 and 2023, in the same order, with the Oilers taking a 2-1 series lead last year by winning Game 3 decisively 8-2 in Los Angeles. They'll look to regain home-ice advantage by capturing another victory in enemy territory.
"Similar situation as last season," Evander Kane said following Friday's morning skate. "And obviously we understand the importance of tonight. Every game in the playoffs is important, but to try to get a lead in the series for the first time tonight, we have a great opportunity to do that."
As expected with the regular season now in the rearview mirror, offence has been a bit tougher to come by in the playoffs. The Oilers were far and away the NHL's top team this year from a production perspective, averaging 3.96 goals per game, well ahead of the Boston Bruins' 3.67, representing the biggest place-to-place gap in the rankings.
However, the Kings held Edmonton to three goals in Monday's 4-3 decision, while the Oilers put three past Joonas Korpisalo on Wednesday and added an empty-net tally for a 4-2 decision.
"They've been doing that to a lot of teams all year," Kane said of the Kings limiting their opponent's offence. "They're a really good hockey team. They really buy into their system and what they try to do and they stick with it. And there's not a lot of room out there, that's for sure. So I think it's just continuing to do what we've been doing, being a little harder in front of the net, getting some more pucks on net, and hopefully we can get some bounces going our way."

MCDAVID MAINTAINS FOCUS

One player in particular the Kings have stymied thus far in the series is Connor McDavid, who had a mammoth 153-point regular season but has recorded a solitary assist through two games in the playoffs. Edmonton's captain said he's far more concerned about the score in the series than the numbers next to his name.
"I couldn't care less about points," McDavid said, bluntly. "It's more about winning games. And the series is 1-1, that's the most important thing. It'd be nice to maybe find a way to chip in a little bit more offensively. But with a tight-checking series, we knew it was going to be that way. I thought we've done a good job generating chances. It's only a matter of time."
Kane scoffed at the notion that the soon-to-be 2022-23 league MVP is struggling.
"Yeah, no, it's funny," he smiled. "I mean, Davo will have four points tonight, right? Then he has five points in three games and everybody's back to normal. Right? We're two games in. There's hopefully a lot of hockey left to be played. I'm sure he'll be a big part of it."

POTENTIAL FORWARD FLIP

The Oilers opened the post-season with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on McDavid's left wing, and Zach Hyman to his right. However, during Friday's morning skate, it was Kane on the captain's left side, with Nugent-Hopkins assuming that position alongside Leon Draisaitl in the middle and Kailer Yamamoto on the right.

And while Head Coach Jay Woodcroft didn't all-out confirm that's how his team will line up in Game 3, he did comment on Kane's ability to be an impact playoff performer, as evidenced by his 13 goals in 15 games last year.
"We've shown different looks through the first two games," Woodcroft said. "We've got a lot of really good players, so having a lot of really good players allows the coach to move some pieces around the chess board. And we do things sometimes based on information that the games are showing us, so we'll see what comes out the gate tonight.
"I think Evander Kane is built for this time of year... He's a skilled player that plays a power forward's game, the type of game built for this time of year. He's a real good hockey player for us."
McDavid echoed the sentiments of the bench boss when asked about the prospect of playing more regular minutes with Kane tonight.
"He creates a lot of loose pucks, he creates a lot of open space, he's someone that I really enjoy playing with," the captain said. "He's a big body, skates really well, gets on the forecheck really well. I'm sure it's not fun going back for pucks when he's on the ice. You can see that. So this is a time of year when he really ramps up that physicality."

Yamamoto discussed the possibility of being reunited with Nugent-Hopkins and Draisaitl, the linemates with whom he mostly played when he scored 26 points in 27 games before the pandemic brought the 2019-20 regular season to an abrupt halt.
"I really like playing with Nuge; I like playing with both of them," he said. "Nuge is a great passer. His hockey IQ is off the charts. I've had a lot of success with him coming up when I was younger, so I'm really excited to play with him."
Based on morning skate, the Oilers are likely to deploy the same 11-forwards, seven-defencemen alignment as Game 2, as Philip Broberg came in for the injured Mattias Janmark.
Stuart Skinner will once again start in net after turning aside 22 of 24 shots on Wednesday.
-- Ryan Frankson, EdmontonOilers.com

PREVIEW

OILERS at KINGS
WATCH: 8:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet & CBC
Oilers Team Scope
Out of a growth moment during the second intermission came the seeds of victory for the Edmonton Oilers in Game 2 of their first-round series with the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night at Rogers Place.
Up 2-0 through 20 minutes for the second straight game and thoroughly dominating the contest, limiting LA to only three shots in the first period, the Oilers opened the door an inch for the Kings to wedge their foot in the door and take advantage by scoring twice in the final six minutes of the frame through Phillip Danault and Gabriel VIlardi to make it 2-2 heading into the all-important third period.
"Essentially it came down to how we're going to use that as a growth moment and get better, and all that mattered was committing to finding the end result that we wanted," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "I thought we played very well in Game 1 and we found a way to not win that game, but we're not in the business of moral victories. We're in the business of putting ticks on the board. "
Klim Kostin scored the game-winner on his first-career playoff goal 2:20 into the third period before Evander Kane added an empty-netter for the 4-2 victory and the split in the series heading back to LA for Game 3 on Friday at Crypto.com Arena.
Derek Ryan chipped in alongside Kostin with some further depth scoring, while Leon Draisaitl proved to be formidable in between the two as part of an 11-and-7 roster configuration of the Oilers lineup by Woodcroft with a goal and two assists.
"There's a little frustration of course, but there's no time to dwell on situations or momentum swings like that. They're going to happen," Draisaitl said of the intermission team talk. "We know that they happened last year. We went through it. But I thought we handled it really well, played a really solid third period and deserved the win."
Draisaitl has five points through the first two playoff games (3G, 2A) and has factored on five of the Oilers seven goals. Stuart Skinner made 22 saves in the win, becoming the first rookie goalie for the Oilers to win a playoff game since Grant Fuhr in 1982.

Kings Team Scope
The Kings struggled to generate any momentum offensively in the early stages of their Game 2 defeat on Wednesday, getting outshot 11-3 by the Oilers through 20 minutes and failing to register a shot on goal until 2:02 of the opening period.
Edmonton started strongly for the second straight game and left Los Angeles with the task of fighting from a losing position like they did in Game 1, down 2-0 at the first intermission.
"The frustrating thing for me is that there were some things that we needed to do early in the game and we didn't decide to do them until the second and third periods," Kings Coach Todd McLellan said post-game. "It was very similar to Game 1... they know those things, so we're going to have to fix them."
But if the Kings are one thing, they're resilient. Phillip Danault and Gabriel Vilardi scored in the second period to pull it back to 2-2, but their inability to play a full 60 minutes this series caught up with them when Klim Kostin's distance shot from the left halfboards beat Joonas Korpisalo far side to put the Oilers ahead in a final 4-2 scoreline.
"I think it was pretty obvious, first period we can't come out like that," Vilardi said. "It's tough to climb back when you're down 2-0. We fought back, but we werent able to come through.
"We're 1-1 and we haven't put together 60 minutes yet. I mean, I can't speak on the first game obviously, but tonight, the first period was terrible, there's no excuses for that. Like I said, we're 1-1 now and we're heading home."
The Kings return home where they went 26-11-4 in the regular season, outscoring opponents 146-119.
The Kings went 12-2-2 in their final 16 home games of the regular season and have a +14 goal differential in the first period since the Trade Deadline, so expect a quicker start to be high on LA's to-do list in Game 3.

By The Numbers
The Oilers are 30-18 all-time in Game 3 of best-of-seven series... This is an important turning point in the series for the Oilers, as they are 19-3 in series when leading 2-1 and just 4-8 when trailing 2-1... The Kings are 17-24 all-time in best-of-seven Game 3's... They have lost Game 3 in the First Round in each of their last two playoff appearances (2018 vs. VGK / 2022 vs. EDM)... The Kings are 1-4 in their last five playoff Game 3's at home...
Among players with 30+ career playoff games played, Draisaitl's 1.64 playoff points per game rank second in NHL history... McDavid has just one point through 2 games in the 2023 playoffs after having four points through two games in the 2022 playoffs... Evander Kane has stepped up his game in the postseason since joining the Oilers with 14 goals and 19 poitns in 17 games... He leads the 2023 playoffs in Expected Goals at 1.51...

Injury Report
OILERS - Ryan Murray (back) is on a conditioning stint; Mattias Janmark (foot) is day-to-day.
KINGS - Kevin Fiala (undisclosed) is day-to-day; Blake Lizotte (lower body) is day-to-day.
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com