Trevor Moore’s OT power-play goal gives Kings win over Oilers
Trevor Moore #12 of the Los Angeles Kings celebrates his goal winning goal with teammates during overtime against the Edmonton Oilers in Game Three of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Trevor Moore scored a power-play goal at 3:24 of overtime to give the Los Angeles Kings a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series.
After Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was called for high sticking at 1:44, Moore, who grew up in nearby Thousand Oaks, California, took Gabriel Villardi’s pass from behind the net and put it between the legs of Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner to give the Kings their second OT victory of the series.
The Kings have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 4 on Sunday night in Los Angeles.
Alex Iafallo and Adrian Kempe also scored for the Kings. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 38 shots. The Kings had a pair of power-play goals and are 4 for 15 in the series.
Edmonton’s Connor McDavid had the second multi-goal playoff game of his career. Evan Bouchard had a pair of assists, and Skinner made 28 saves.
Iafallo scored his second goal of the series with 33 seconds left in the first period when he knocked in a rebound after Skinner saved Matt Roy’s shot from the point.
It was Los Angeles’ third goal in the final minute of a regulation period during the series.
McDavid then broke out of his scoring slump with a pair of power-play goals in a 100-second span on wrist shots from the left faceoff circle.
The Oilers captain tied it at 1 with a shot that went over Korpisalo’s glove at 7:42.
McDavid then scored another one from the left faceoff circle with the man advantage, with a wrist shot to the short side at 9:22.
Edmonton’s advantage lasted only 18 seconds. The Kings went on the power play when Draisaitl was called for unsportsmanlike conduct after McDavid’s second goal. Los Angeles quickly converted when Kempe put in a one-timer off the boards after Viktor Arvidsson’s entry pass into the Edmonton zone.
The Oilers, who led the league with a 32.4% conversion rate on the power play during the regular season, are 4 for 8 with the man advantage in the series.
SCARY MOMENT
Arvidsson went airborne for a couple seconds and hit the ice hard after being tripped up by Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse at 5:52 of the first period.
The Kings’ right wing was down for a couple minutes before being helped off the ice. He was in the locker room for a couple minutes before returning to the game.
Nurse was originally called for a five-minute major before it was reviewed and downgraded to a minor. It was a four-on-four situation because Arvidsson was called for playing with a broken stick before his incident with Nurse.
ROAD WARRIOR
Leon Draisaitl became the fourth player in NHL history to have 30 road points in 20 or fewer playoff games when he had the second assist on McDavid’s second goal. Draisaitl has 10 goals and 20 assists in the postseason, including six points through three games of this series (three goals, three assists).
Wayne Gretzky (13 games), Mario Lemieux (16) and Peter Stastny (19) reached 30 points on the road in fewer games.
NOTES: Los Angeles forward Blake Lizotte did not play due to a lower-body injury. Zack MacEwen took his place on the fourth line.