Kings clamp down on defence in Game 4
After allowing 14 goals in previous two contests, Los Angeles blanks the Oilers to even series
LOS ANGELES — As far as coming back from the grave goes, the Los Angeles Kings kicked open the coffin lid with a vengeance Sunday that would have made Jason Voorhees proud.
Left for dead after being beaten 14-2 in Games 2 and 3, the Kings are back in Edmonton's nightmares again after a 4-0 Game 4 victory at Crypto. com Arena that was straight out of a Friday the 13th sequel.
Instead of putting the series in a 3-1 stranglehold, suddenly it's the Oilers who feel the icy hand of uncertainty tightening its grip around their necks in what is now a best of three coin toss.
The Oilers have been saying for three days that it didn't matter how badly they beat the Kings in Game 2, and how badly they beat them again in Game 3. Whether they believed it or not is something only they know, but most of the people watching this series didn't. But they do now.
The Oilers are getting a first-hand look at the resilience of an LA team that refused to quit in the regular season when injuries devastated their lineup and certainly weren't going to curl up after a couple of tough losses.
“It's not Champions League soccer where it's aggregate score,” said Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft. “It doesn't matter. Your job is to win four games, the scores are irrelevant. You just have to find a way to win.”
The Kings were saying the same thing in their room. Defenceman Alex Edler was on the 2011 Vancouver Canucks team lost Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup final to the Boston Bruins by a combined score of 12-1. They came home and posted a 1-0 victory in Game 5.
Vancouver lost the series in seven games, but proved no matter how dark things get along the way there is no such thing as momentum in the post-season.
Now it's Edmonton's turn to forget about what happened, re-set their own focus and win Game 5 on home ice. Or else things will get really dicey.
“What I like about our team is our ability to return to baseline and not get too caught up in the swells,” said Woodcroft.
“It was the same thing after Game 1, we didn't get caught up on any kind of trough, either.”
Defenceman Tyson Barrie remains confident that Edmonton's best is enough to win this series, but now that it's a best-of-three and the Kings are breathing new life, it's absolutely going to take their best.
“These guys are a good team and they're not going to go away,” said Barrie, adding they've rebounded before in this series and they can do it again.
“It's the same as Game 1 when we didn't get the result. We keep pounding away and playing the style of game we want to play. You can't dwell on (last game), you have to keep playing the way you want to play and putting together 60 minutes of the style of hockey we want. “You re-set and do it again.” With the Kings at home and this being their last chance to salvage the series, the Oilers knew they would have to weather a storm in the first period. Unfortunately, they weathered it like a canoe in a hurricane and started taking on water from the opening faceoff.
The opening 20 minutes weren't close, with Los Angeles first to every puck and peppering Mike Smith with a relentless barrage of rubber. By the waning moments of the first period the Kings were up 2-0 on goals from Trevor Moore and Troy Strecher, were outshooting Edmonton 20-7 and had hit two goalposts.
If not for Smith, this one would have been over at the first intermission.
The second period was better, but not much, with Los Angeles outshooting Edmonton 14-7 and the score still 2-0 Kings with 20 minutes to go.
The Oilers had some decent looks, but offence that came so easily in Games 2 and 3 wasn't there anymore. Part of that had to do with LA goalie Jonathan Quick, who was back in Game 1 form, and part of it had to do with Edmonton shooters who always seemed a couple inches off or a half second too late.
The third period was Edmonton's turn to push, but their comeback attempt ran out of gas when Carl Grundstrom made it 3-0 with 4:54 to play followed by an empty-netter.
Late hits: Derick Brassard drew in for Game 4 when Derek Ryan became a late scratch. Ryan collided with L.A.'s Andreas Athanasiou late in Game 3 and looked a little shaken up, but he took the morning skate Sunday and seemed good to go ... Edmonton's first power play of the game came five minutes into the second period but all they did with their chance to shift the momentum was give up a short-handed breakaway ... Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell watched the game from ice level seats right next to the Oilers bench.