In Edmonton, the visiting Los Angeles Kings chased their game with the Oilers most of the night. The Kings fell behind 2-0 in the opening stanza, and 3-1 in the second period before tying the game, 3-3, with 16.7 seconds left on the regulation clock.
Anze Kopitar scored the tying goal when he tapped in a loose puck in the crease to send the game to the extra session.
“I think it was more timely goes than just relying on the power play,” said Kopitar. “Tonight was no different, getting the tying goal very late and then the winning goal in OT. You’re down two and you can pretty much change the whole momentum of the game with one shot. [Adrian Kempe] got us going, and we were able to roll from there.”
Alex Iafallo then won the game, 4-3, on a power play goal midway through the session on a shot from the high slot.
“I was just trying to get lost; we have a lot of good players that can make good passes,” Iafallo said. “I was just in the middle there and trying to find a good spot. [Anze Kopitar] had it on the wall and got it down to ‘Arvi’ and I was just trying to get in a good spot past the defenseman and he was able to make that pass to me, and I just hammered it home.”
Game 2 is set for Wednesday in Edmonton.
Joonas Korpisalo made 37 saves in the Kings, and was on the bench when Kopitar scored his goal.
Leon Draisaitl scored the first of his two on the night to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead in the first period.
“It’s frustrating, but we’ve got to be more mature than that,” Draisaitl said. “It’s a 3-1 game and [there’s] eight minutes left or whatever, so we’ve got to lock that down.”
Evan Bouchard extended the Oilers advantage to 2-0 in the first.
“When you’ve got a two-goal lead heading into the third period, you’ve got to be playing somewhat of a decent game,” Bouchard said. “When you go into a third period up two goals, you’ve got to find a way to close it out and win it.
“It’s a long series, that’s why you’ve got seven games. I think we’ve got to learn from this definitely and be ready for the next game.”
After a scoreless second period, Adrian Kempe scored the first of his double on the night 52 seconds into the third period to trim the Oilers lead to 2-1.
“Kopitar is obviously one of the best leaders out there,” Kempe said. “He takes charge when he is out there, and we were talking after the first period we weren’t really happy with the way our line was playing after the first. Kopi took charge in the second period … obviously we scored a couple of goals, and he had four points.”
Draisaitl hit for his second to reclaim the to-goal lad for Edmonton at 3-1.
“We played some good hockey for the most part,” Draisaitl said. “It’s not how we planned it. We obviously wanted to come out and win this game, but we didn’t, so we’ve got to regroup and get ready for the next one.”
Kempe scored his second of the period at 11:23 to get the Kings within 3-2.
“I didn’t think we played particularly well in the third period,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. “There were moments in that period we would like to have back, and we could be better. In the end, they scored a 6-on-4 goal with 17 seconds or so to tie it up. That’s disappointing, and we couldn’t find the winner in overtime.”
Stuart Skinner made 31 saves in the Oilers loss.
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