This unexpected hero came through for the Oilers over the Kings

The Los Angeles Kings took game one of the best-of-seven series from the Edmonton Oilers in stunning fashion.

They erased a two-goal deficit to force overtime when Anze Kopitat scored with 11 seconds left in regulation. Kopitat then completed a four-point night with an assist on Alex Iafallo’s winner.

Coming into game two, you knew the Oilers would be on their heels for a few reasons. For one, Connor McDavid was kept off the score sheet as the Kings did a masterful job with him.

Two, they blew a lead late which means they won’t be comfortable with a lead again in this series unless they dig deep and forget about it.

Three, going back to Los Angeles down 0-2 spells disaster for their Stanley Cup hopes. They needed to win this game two as badly as any team in the playoffs because of all the pressure they have on them.

The Edmonton Oilers needed to beat the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday.

Things started off well for the Oilers once again. Derek Ryan and Leon Draisaitl scored goals to get Edmonton up 2-0. McDavid made a great play on the Draisaitl power play goal to earn his first point of the playoffs. You’d like to think he is off to the races now.

The feeling of doubt started to creep in when Phillip Danault scored his first of the series to make it 2-1. Then, it got even worse when Gabe Vilardi tied the game on a weird goal that took some skill to create. The Oilers looked like they were going to blow it again.

Luckily, at 2:20 of the third period, Klim Kostin scored his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal and the Oilers were back on top. It was an unassisted goal as he did just what he needed to do to find some twine and give his team the lead.

The Oilers have 12 forwards that reached double-digit goal totals and Kostin is amongst the most surprising. It was huge to see him step up here and deliver for his team.

In the final moments of the third period, Leon Draisaitl made an amazing play to find Evander Kane who deposited it into the empty net to secure the 4-2 Oilers victory.

Kostin’s goal served as the game-winner and he is the unexpected hero that Edmonton needed in this game. He was traded to the Oilers from the St. Louis Blues on October 9th and he got to spend the whole season with this great team.

This man has plenty of skill which is why he was a first-round pick (31st overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft. It didn’t work out with the Blues like he would have hoped but he is in a good spot now.

We will now shift to Los Angeles as the two teams will continue the series. It has been incredible so far so we will see who can get the edge again in the next one.