Kings drop Game 2 to Oilers; Best-of-7 series heads to LA tied 1-1
Edmonton Oilers Left Wing Klim Kostin (21) celebrates his goal in the third period of game two in the Western Conference First Round of the Edmonton Oilers versus the Los Angeles Kings on April 19, 2023. (Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire via Ge (Getty Images)
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - Klim Kostin broke a tie at 2:20 of the third period and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Wednesday night in Game 2 to tie the first-round Western Conference playoff series.
Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists to help Edmonton rebound from a 4-3 overtime loss in the opener. Derek Ryan and Evander Kane — into an empty net — also scored for the Oilers.
NHL scoring champion Connor McDavid had an assist and Stuart Skinner made 23 saves in his first NHL playoff victory.
Joonas Korpisalo stopped 33 shots for Los Angeles. Gabriel Vilardi and Philip Danault scored for the Kings. Vilardi returned after missing the last nine games of the regular season and first game of the series because of a lower-body injury.
Game 3 is Friday night in Los Angeles.
On the go-ahead goal, Draisaitl’s neutral-zone check on Arthur Kaliyev along the boards forced a turnover for Kostin to skate the puck into the zone and wire a shot to the far side on Korpisalo.
Edmonton took a 2-0 lead in first period and Los Angeles struck twice in the second.