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Evander Kane helps Oilers dominate Kings again for 2-1 series lead

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LOS ANGELES — If Game 2 was a grease fire, Game 3 left the Kings’ first-round playoff series on the verge of a six-alarm blaze.

The Edmonton Oilers scored the first five goals on Friday night, and unlike in 1982 there was no “Miracle on Manchester” nor any “Frenzy on Figueroa,” just an 8-2 defeat that left the Kings trailing 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Game 4 is Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena, and the Kings will be looking to bounce back from a loss that tied for the third-largest margin of defeat in franchise postseason history, with the other three games also coming against Edmonton.

Winger Evander Kane picked up his first hat trick in a Stanley Cup playoff game, and center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and winger Zach Hyman each had two goals as seven Edmonton skaters turned in multipoint games. Center Leon Draisaitl had a goal and assist, defensemen Cody Ceci had three assists and center Connor McDavid and defenseman Evan Bouchard had two assists apiece. Mike Smith made a series-high 44 saves.

Center Anze Kopitar led the Kings with an unassisted goal and his setup of center Phillip Danault’s power-play goal. Jonathan Quick made 13 of 17 saves before he was relieved by Cal Petersen, who also allowed four goals (on 20 shots).

Kings coach Todd McLellan made only terse remarks, perhaps 30 seconds’ worth, after the game.

“We weren’t any good, we’re really disappointed and we got trapped playing their game,” he said. “I’ll give the same answer for every individual: they weren’t any good.”

Kane had a pair of rebound goals in the second period and finished his hat trick with a wrist shot off a pass from Nugent-Hopkins with 20 seconds left, just after a power play expired.

Nugent-Hopkins had two goals in 81 seconds earlier in the third period, further humiliating the Kings as the game descended into outright garbage time.

The series had been focused squarely on limiting the impact of McDavid and Draisaitl. It has now ballooned into a multifront war for the Kings as they battle peripheral players who have heated up around the NHL’s most prolific pair.

Similarly, while the penalty kill seemed to be a clear area of emphasis – it got no better on three chances Friday, when the hosts allowed one man-advantage goal and a second goal mere instants after a power play had expired – now seemingly every facet of the Kings’ game has deteriorated.

“We’ve got to have more confidence. We’re a good team, we’re not in the playoffs for no reason,” Danault said. “We also have to learn. We have to play better under pressure, (pass) tape-to-tape, execution’s got to be better. Every area’s got to be better. Defensively, as well, neutral zone, O-zone, so, everywhere.”

Edmonton had already pulled away from the Kings in the second period with three goals in less than four minutes. The Kings responded with a tally of their own and then their first power-play goal of the series, though the game was already out of hand.

Forecheck pressure from the Oilers forced defenseman Alex Edler to turn the puck over to Ceci. His shot from high in the zone was tipped by Kane, who followed up for a backhand goal at the 6:27 mark.

A long pass into space gave Hyman time to beat winger Andreas Athanasiou for position up the left-wing wall, where he skated down the puck and powered his way to the net while stickhandling between his forehand and backhand. Hyman’s second goal of the game and series chased Quick from the contest, prompting Petersen’s first career postseason appearance.

Kane put on a puck pursuit clinic during a sequence that culminated with him popping in yet another Ceci rebound for his second goal of the game.

The Kings averted a second consecutive shutout with a magnificent individual effort from Kopitar. After Athanasiou separated Ceci from the puck in the corner, Kopitar swooped in and weaved between all five Oilers defenders for a top-shelf goal off his backhand 10:07 into the second period.

More than seven minutes later, the Kings’ power-play drought ended at 0 for 10 when Danault made it rain off a rebound. Kopitar won an offensive zone draw, received the puck from defenseman Sean Durzi and then found winger Adrian Kempe for a one-timer that created a chance for Danault to flip the puck skyward and into the net.

Danault has accumulated two goals and three points in three playoff games with the Kings. In 38 prior postseason appearances for Montreal, he had just two goals and nine points.

The Kings piled up shots on goal in the first period, but only three of its 19 were high-danger chances. By contrast, Edmonton had four such opportunities in its seven shots, and two of them ended up in the Kings’ net.

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While the intensity in the building was at a four-year high, it was Edmonton striking first with the familiar combination of McDavid to Draisaitl. It took fewer than three minutes for a scuffle to ensue, and the result of testiness and tempers flaring was a four-on-four situation. A promising rush for the Kings quickly became a give-and-go play that covered the length of the ice. The counterattack saw Draisaitl dish to McDavid, who drove hard up the left wing before finding Draisaitl for a redirection goal, his third of the series, 3:50 into the period.

Then a penalty to winger Trevor Moore sent the Oilers to the power play, where Edmonton extended its edge 2:17 after its first goal. It was tic-tac-toe time as defenseman Tyson Barrie found McDavid for a decisive pass to Hyman, who tapped the puck past Quick with ease for his first goal of the series.

“That’s a big slap in the face tonight,” Danault said. “Luckily, it’s only 2-1, the series, so we’ve got to regroup and step up in the next game.”

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