PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers at Kings (Game 4)

The Edmonton Oilers prepare for Game 4 of their first-round playoff series against the Kings with back-to-back six-goal wins and a 2-1 series advantage.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet or CBC or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Video: OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game 4 at LAK 05.08.22

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs. LAK
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
PRE-GAME RAW | Draisaitl
PRE-GAME RAW | Barrie
RECENT VIDEOS
RAW | Coach Jay Woodcroft
RAW | Zach Hyman
RAW | Mike Smith
HIGHLIGHTS: Oilers 8, Kings 2
BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Kings Statistics
Stats Comparison
Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
BLOG: Esprit de corps
BLOG: Feel the Kane
BLOG: Follow the leaders
VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Sunday's game on Sportsnet or CBC at 8:00 PM MT.
News and notes from Saturday's Oilers media availability at the team hotel in Los Angeles, as Head Coach Jay Woodcroft spoke about the team spirit that continues to push the group forward.
**>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG**
LOS ANGELES, CA - Head Coach Jay Woodcroft says he's not a big believer in momentum, but his Oilers would appear to have plenty of it as they head into Game 4 of their series with the Los Angeles Kings.
Edmonton has amassed an eye-popping 14 goals in back-to-back wins as they look to make it three straight on Sunday and travel back home with a chance to close out the first-round matchup on Tuesday at Rogers Place.
Add their three from Game 1 and the team's 17 goals are the most through the first three games of a playoff round since the San Jose Sharks also netted 17 in their 2014 first-round series against the Kings.
As enjoyable as Wednesday's 6-0 home win and Friday's 8-2 clobbering at Crypto.com Arena may have been for the team, their bench boss is preaching a clean-slate mindset heading into the second showdown in Los Angeles.
"It's not like Champions League soccer where there's aggregates," Woodcroft said. "The goals in the game, it doesn't matter. Your job is to win four games in a playoff series. The scores of the game are irrelevant. You just want to make sure you're continuing to grow your game and find a way to win. We've done that in Games 2 and 3, but those games are done. Our attention is on Game 4."
So how do you avoid getting swept up by the wave that was the offensive outbursts of the last two games? You react to the victories the same way you do to the defeats.
Video: PRE-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 05.08.22
"What I like about our team is our ability to return to baseline," Woodcroft said. "Not getting too caught up in the swells, but after Game 1 we didn't get caught up in any type of trough either. Returning to baseline is something that we've talked about for the last two and a half months. If guys are feeling personally confident within our team structure, I'm happy for them."
"It's the same as after Game 1 when we didn't have the result, we keep pounding away and play the style of game that we want to play," echoed defenceman Tyson Barrie. "We've been rewarded for it the last two, but you can't dwell on that. We're feeling good with where our game is at, but I don't think you can read too much into what the last two games were. You just reset and do it again."
DEPTH ON DISPLAY
One of the most impressive aspects of Edmonton's offensive onslaught against the Kings so far in the first-round series has been the widespread nature of their scoring.
Sixteen Oilers players have found their way to the scoresheet over the course of the first three games, with Evander Kane (6), Connor McDavid (6), Evan Bouchard (5), Leon Draisaitl (4), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (4), Zach Hyman (3) and Cody Ceci (3) all averaging at least a point per game.
"When we get to our game, we're a tough team to handle," said Draisaitl, who has tallied three goals and an assist. "We're deep, we defend the right way, we've got two great goalies. We're a tough team to beat when we play the right way and do the things we want to do."
Video: PRE-RAW | Leon Draisaitl 05.08.22
Building up big leads in each of the last two games has allowed the Oilers to spread out their forward ice time as well, with McDavid logging 16:52 then 16:18 and Draisaitl registering 15:10 then 14:57, compared to their respective regular-season averages of 22:04 and 22:21.
Only Kane has surpassed 18 minutes during the last two games. And the last time Draisaitl played less than 15 minutes in a game? You have to rewind all the way back to November 2017.
"We obviously plan on going on a long run, so when the game's out of hand there's no point for Connor, for me to be out there and play 23 minutes," said the German superstar. "There's some energy that can be saved. And guys deserve to play more minutes. Clouder, those kind of guys, Foegy, Kass, they're playing really good hockey right now."
There has been plenty of back-end balance as well, with Ceci, Bouchard, Barrie, Darnell Nurse, Brett Kulak and Duncan Keith all averaging between 18 and 22 minutes in Games 2 and 3.
"You look at our team, the way we've been playing and the way we're built, it's a pretty lethal roster," Draisaitl said of Edmonton's depth. "We're doing our part so far, but we've got a lot of work left."
-- Ryan Frankson, EdmontonOilers.com
Video: PRE-RAW | Tyson Barrie 05.08.22
OILERS vs. KINGS
8:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet and CBC
Oilers Team Scope
The Oilers will suit up for Game 4 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs series looking to keep things rolling against the Kings.
Edmonton has scored an impressive 14 goals in their last two games, including eight on Friday at Crypto.com Arena, where they will hope to earn the win on Sunday night and head back to Edmonton with the opportunity to eliminate the Kings on home ice on Tuesday in Game 5.
Led by Evander Kane, who had a hat trick on Friday and has five goals in the last five periods, the Oilers offence has been near impossible to stop with nine different goal scorers in the first three games of the series.
Zach Hyman scored his first two goals of the playoffs on Friday, as did Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who notched his tallies just 81 seconds apart. Every member of the Oilers top six has found a way to tickle the twine at least once against the Kings, with Leon Draisaitl scoring in every game of the series thus far.
In goal, Mike Smith has continued to man the blue paint for the Oilers, something he has done with great effectiveness down the stretch and now in the series. The 40-year-old currently sports a 2.02 goals-against average, .946 save percentage, and has one shutout against the Kings.
Playoff rookie Evan Bouchard is having a great start to his post-season career, dishing five assists in the series' first three games. The defenceman is second to only the Avalanche's Cale Makar in playoff assists and points for defenders.
Edmonton is hoping to push their series lead to 3-1 on Sunday night, a mark in which they have won 14 of 15 Stanley Cup Playoffs series after reaching.
Kings Team Scope
Los Angeles is looking to stop the bleeding after back-to-back blowout losses. The Kings started out strong in the first period of Game 3, outshooting Edmonton 19-7, but the Oilers were the ones who exited the frame with a 2-0 lead.
Things did not get better for Los Angeles in the second when goals by Kane and Hyman chased Jonathan Quick from his crease after he allowed four goals on 17 shots. The veteran was replaced by Cal Peterson, who was making his first-ever Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance. The Oilers greeted him with Kane's second goal of the night just 2:09 after entering the game.
Los Angeles would push back before the end of the period, with Anze Kopitar scoring his first of the series and Phillip Danault scoring his second to make it a 5-2 score. Edmonton pulled away in the third, putting three more pucks past Peterson for the 8-2 victory.
The loss was the sixth straight at home in the post-season for the Kings, who are 6-11 all-time when trailing 2-1 in a playoff series.
By The Numbers
The Oilers scored eight goals in a playoff game for the 16th time in franchise history on Friday... The eight-goal outburst was the first for the Oilers since the 1990 post-season... Evander Kane notched his first career playoff hat trick in Friday's 8-2 victory... Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' two goals in 81 seconds were the sixth fastest back-to-back goals by an Oilers player in the playoffs... Edmonton's powerplay is operating at 45.5 per cent in the series, scoring on 5-of-11 chances... Connor McDavid has a point in five straight Oilers playoff games...
The Kings are 6-11 in playoff series where they trail 2-1... Los Angeles has won eight straight Game 4's at home... The Kings are 1-8 in their last nine post-season games... A loss against the Oilers on Sunday would give the Kings their longest playoff home losing streak in franchise history (seven)... Anze Kopitar's goal on Friday tied him with Justin Williams for fifth all-time in Kings playoff history (22)... Phillip Danault is the only Los Angeles player with more than a single goal in the series (The Oilers have four with two or more)... Jonathan Quick was pulled from a post-season game on Friday for the first time since the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs...
Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR; Kyle Turris (back) is on IR.
KINGS - Drew Doughty (wrist) is on IR; Sean Walker (torn ACL/MCL) is on IR, Viktor Arvidsson (lower body) is day-to-day.
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com