LOS ANGELES — At the fore of a series in which matchups have become paramount lies a battle between professor and protege, that of Kings coach Todd McLellan and his former assistant, Jay Woodcroft, who now guides the Edmonton Oilers.

The two shared a bench in San Jose and then in Edmonton, both times with McLellan as the head coach and Woodcroft as his assistant. When McLellan was an assistant under Mike Babcock in Detroit, Woodcroft was part of the team’s video staff as well.

Woodcroft said that he likely would have never ascended to his current position, his first head NHL coaching job, without McLellan, much as current Oilers stars credited him with illuminating their professional paths.

“Todd certainly took a chance on me, but I took a chance on him as well in trusting my development to him,” Woodcroft said. “He paid me back in spades with the opportunities that he gave me.”

The two also shared the opportunity to coach Team North America in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, a youthful roster that included Edmonton centers Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. During the ensuing NHL season, the Oilers won their first playoff series since 2006 before bowing out after seven games against the Ducks.

McDavid and fellow former MVP Leon Draisaitl remained the focus of all things Oilers heading into the series, and also the targets of the Kings’ top two centers, Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault. In Game 1, McLellan was able to get his preferred matchups five-on-five more often than not, and his duo neutralized Edmonton’s five-on-five.

But in Game 1 as in Game 2, McDavid, Draisaitl and their chums were able to do damage on the power play. The lopsided score meant that McDavid and Draisaitl each played less than 17 minutes. By contrast, McDavid logged more than 25 minutes and Draisaitl over 22 in Game 1, with the Kings’ top two playing a few seconds more.

Throughout the regular season, there was some emphasis on lightening Kopitar’s load. That motivated the offseason acquisition of Danault, in part, and Kopitar’s average time on ice was as low as it had been since 2014-15, the season after three deep playoff runs that saw the Kings play in 11 of 12 possible rounds.

But during the playoffs, there has been no such consideration. Kopitar played more than any other forward or defenseman in the series opener and logged a hair shy of 20 minutes in a Game 2 blowout.

“There’s no saving anything for us; we’re living day to day,” McLellan said. “If (Kopitar) has to play 45 minutes tonight, he’s going to play 45 minutes.”

Game 3 gave the Kings the last line change and a chance to control the even-strength matchups more tightly. That didn’t stop McDavid from finding Draisaitl for an early goal during a four-on-four situation before picking up his second power-play assist of the series a little over two minutes later.

FOLLOW THE LEADERS

As the Kings sought to rebound from a 6-0 loss on Wednesday, they looked as they often do to their veteran leadership. Kopitar, winger Dustin Brown, injured defenseman Drew Doughty and goalie Jonathan Quick have all won two Stanley Cups, as has the noticeably younger defenseman Olli Maatta. Other 20-something additions such as Danault and Viktor Arvidsson have also been on runs to the Stanley Cup Final during their careers.

“Those older guys have done it for a long time and they know that you dwell on these kinds of things, but you have to learn from the mistakes for sure,” forward and breakout contributor Trevor Moore said of the turnaround between Games 2 and 3.

Few teams have had much scrutiny placed on their roster composition in terms of age and experience levels. In the nascent stages of General Manager Rob Blake’s tenure, they featured an aging roster playing heavy hockey in an increasingly skill-oriented league. A selloff of assets soon transformed them into an all but totally inexperienced group led by a handful of holdovers. This season, they’ve boasted a much more balanced group, albeit still one that entered the playoffs with fewer postseason games under its belts than the other 15 teams.

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“Leaders and followers, you need both,” Coach Todd McLellan said. “Leaders get a lot of credit for reestablishing what’s required, the tone and the urgency, and the followers have followed fairly well. It’s a combination of everybody getting it and making the fix that’s necessary. We have done a good job of that throughout the season. The season is still going and we’ll need it.”

ARVIDSSON STILL OUT

Arvidsson, who began the year skating with Kopitar but ultimately found a groove with Danault and Moore, remained out of action in Friday’s Game 3. Initially believed to be dealing with a personal issue that prompted a sudden and hasty departure from practice last weekend, the cat is now out of the bag that Arvidsson has a lower-body injury.

During the regular season, Arvidsson finished sixth on the team in power-play scoring and tied for fourth in game-winning goals. The Kings failed to score on their first 10 power-play opportunities of the series; they also gave up a short-handed goal in Game 2. While they got a timely goal from Danault in Game 1, the shot-first mentality, playmaking creativity, daringness to challenge defenders and knack for timely offense of Arvidsson would all make his return a welcome sight for the Kings.

So, too, would his overall offensive prowess, which the Kings added (with Gabe Vilardi coming in for Carl Grundstrom) and subtracted (as Rasmus Kupari replaced Quinton Byfield) by way of a pair of tweaks on Friday.