Los Angeles Kings' Anze Kopitar scores overtime winner, series tied 1-1
With two minutes gone in overtime, Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar broke in on Edmonton Oilers goaltender Staurt Skinner and fired a wrist shot over the glove to give the Kings a 5-4 win in overtime. The series is now tied 1-1 with games three and four in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Kings' Kopitar coming up huge in overtime.
Kings get offense from usual suspects
This series seems to be one of many goals. While Los Angeles cannot afford to play wide-open, run-and-gun type of hockey, they did get crucial goals from the players expected to come up huge in this series. Forward Adrian Kempe scored two goals, while Drew Doughty, Kevin Fiala, and Kopitar lit the lamp.
If Los Angeles has any chance of advancing to the second round, these four are the players that should lead the way in terms of offense. However, that does not mean the offense cannot come from the bottom-six, with players like Carl Grundstrom and Pierre-Luc Dubois contributing on occasion.
Kings' Talbot rebounds nicely
Los Angeles netminder Cam Talbot had a game one to forget about. While some of the goals scored were certainly not his fault as the defense was average at best, Talbot knew he needed a massive game in game two to get his confidence back and get the team back on track.
He made a series of highlight-reel saves in game two, including a glove save on Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl after a flurry of Edmonton chances. Talbot still let in four goals but his efforts in game two were much better and a good indication of how well he can play under pressure. A performance like this can take Los Angeles to the second round over a powerful Oilers squad.
Oilers get shaken up in loss
In game one, Edmonton got rattled when the Kings played a physical style of hockey and laid the body at every opportunity. Edmonton hated the fact that the opposition would do this, especially a team like Los Angeles.
In game two, the Oilers displayed disapproval when Los Angeles would score a goal or after a Talbot save. The KIngs are getting in Edmonton's head early in this series. Players like Corey Perry and Evander Kane of Edmonton have been known to play on the edge so if the Kings can get them in the penalty box and capitalize on the man-advantage, this series could take on a whole new meaning.
Los Angeles now heads home where they are exactly where they want to be, tied at 1-1 in the series. They took a game in Edmonton and are coming into crypto.com arena a confident bunch.
While the series has a long way to go, Los Angeles knows what they have to do to be successful against an elite team like the Oilers. Kempe, Doughty, Kopitar, and Fiala will try to continue their hot play in game three as the Kings look to go up 2-1 in the series.