LOS ANGELES — The Kings lived to fight another day, avoiding a harrowing 3-1 series hole and instead reducing their first-round playoff series to a best-of-three against the Edmonton Oilers.

Yet there was no elation on the part of Coach Todd McLellan.

“We won Game 1, and then we did nothing in Games 2 or 3 that even remotely looked close to us,” McLellan said. “So have we learned anything throughout the series? It doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy and it doesn’t mean we’re going to win, but we need to do certain things to have a chance. We’ll see if we’ve learned.”

Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft addressed reporters in Edmonton on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s Game 5 there. He was similarly stern, even though only a 4-0 loss separated his club from two resounding victories.

“You’re going to see a team that knows there are no shortcuts to success,” he said of his group.

The Kings’ turnaround in Game 4, from a 14-2 deficit across Games 2 and 3 to a shutout, was the result of incremental improvements across the board, McLellan said. It was less a product of any coaches’ diagrams than the team’s desire-driven and detail-oriented game. The Kings improved to 56 percent in the faceoff circle, avoided getting discouraged by early miscues, out-shot Edmonton 46-31 and closed space defensively with the hunger they’d shown at their best all season long.

“Everyone in our room was tired of giving up that many goals, so, as a whole, I think we tried to lock it down more and get back to our identity of being harder to play against,” defenseman Mikey Anderson said.

McLellan said Anderson, a second-year player, performed with the poise of a 10-year veteran. He moved up to the top defense pairing with Matt Roy in Game 4. Meanwhile, the addition of defenseman Troy Stecher to the lineup proved fruitful (he scored a goal) while the return and promotion of Carl Grundstrom galvanized the second line (he potted two goals and set up another). Vital offseason addition Phillip Danault was strong defensively and registered an assist.

But for all the personnel tweaks and fresh-faced contributors, McLellan credited his core of four two-time Stanley Cup winners with the Kings for much of the team’s improved fortunes. Though Drew Doughty will likely miss the entire postseason, he has been traveling with the team. Dustin Brown provided aggression with five hits to match five shots on goal Sunday. Anze Kopitar played a sound 200-foot game, denying Leon Draisaitl on a wraparound and otherwise dampening the impact of Edmonton’s stars. In net, Jonathan Quick became just the 14th goalie ever to reach double digits in postseason shutouts, and only Minnesota’s Marc-Andre Fleury has more (16) among active netminders.

McLellan said that group reminded him of the nucleus he coached in Detroit as an assistant. Those Red Wings featured icons such as Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Dominik Hasek and Chris Chelios, placing the Kings’ leadership group in elite company.

“If you’re on the bench in uniform … you should be absorbing every single minute of the ups and downs of this series, and look around at how certain people handle it,” McLellan said.

“Because there’s four of them … they’re all carrying themselves a certain way,” He continued. “There’s a relaxation factor that comes into play when we need it. There’s an intensity factor that goes up when we need it. And it’s not manufactured by the coaching staff.”

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On the Oilers’ side, they had an early lull and showed only intermittent signs of recovery. Forward Derek Ryan, who had skated on the right wing of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, was unavailable due to an injury. Nugent-Hopkins, who had three points in Game 3, was noticeably less effective with his newly formed line.

So, too was winger Evander Kane, who had poured in five goals in two games. Kane, who departed in disgrace from the San Jose Sharks earlier this season, has been a phenomenal bargain and a prolific producer at any price for Edmonton. Since his arrival in late January, his 27 goals between regular-season and playoff action place him between Draisaitl and Connor McDavid on the Oilers. He is tied for fifth in the NHL over the same span.

“We have better, we’re capable of more, and we’re going to digest this game and give our players something as a focal point heading into Game 5,” Woodcroft said.

KINGS AT EDMONTON

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton

TV/Radio: Bally Sports SoCal, ESPN2 / iHeartRadio