Oilers dominate Kings 6-1, take 2-1 series lead

The Los Angeles Kings came into crypto.com arena on Friday night confident after their game 2 win. The Kings managed to tie the series and had two straight at home ahead of them. The Edmonton Oilers quickly squashed that confidence on game 3, winning 6-1 and taking a 2-1 series lead.

Kings need answers to stop powerful Oilers

Kings defense needs adjustments

The entire series Edmonton has had their way offensively with the Kings having no response. Every game in the series has seen the Oilers with an average of 40 shots on goal and they have scored 17 goals in three games. Head Coach Jim Hiller may need to do some roster shuffling on the back end and bring some new faces in to see if that changes anything. The forwards need to be more aggressive on the forecheck and limit the Oilers' speed and transition game, which has led to many odd-man rushes. The Los Angeles defense has looked average at best and needs some work.

Special teams playing big role

Edmonton has an elite offense and are using that to embarrass the once elite penalty kill of the Kings. In Friday night's game, the Oilers went 3-7 on the power play, while the Kings went 0-5. Edmonton now has the second best power play in the playoffs, operating at a 50% success rate, while the Los Angeles penalty kill is 14th at 50%. Coach Hiller has to find a way to smother the Oilers offense on the man advantage because the Kings are not looking like the same team on the penalty kill as they were in the regular season.

Kings need more offense from middle-six

While the defense has struggled in the series, the offense has not been much better. Forward Adrian Kempe has been good to start the series, producing three goals and one assists in three games. The middle-six has struggled and need to step up if they are to have a chance of advancing. Kevin Fiala, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Trevor Moore, and Viktor Arvidsson have combined for three goals and two assists for five points in the series. The Kings need more from them in the series as they were a solid offensive unit in the regular season so they can produce. Edmonton has received scoring from throughout the lineup and have been far superior in all aspects of the game.

Los Angeles needs to fix a lot in a short amount of time. The defense needs work, the offense need to create more inside the offensive zone, and it may be time for a goaltending change, swapping Cam Talbot for David Rittich. The series is 2-1 but it is not even that close and it could be a short series if the Oilers keep dominating. Los Angeles is running out of time for things to come together