Mattias Janmark's goal sends
dominant Oilers past Kings 3-1. They take a 3-2 series lead to Edmonton
[April 30, 2025]
By GREG BEACHAM
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mattias Janmark scored the tiebreaking goal in
the third period, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings
3-1 Tuesday night for their third consecutive victory and a 3-2 lead
in their first-round series.
Evander Kane and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored and Calvin Pickard
made 20 saves for the defending Western Conference champion Oilers,
who can advance with a win in Game 6 in Edmonton on Thursday.
Edmonton was finally rewarded for dominating possession and shots
throughout Game 5 when Janmark converted a rebound of Viktor
Arvidsson's shot with 12:48 to play.
After some fraught final moments, Nugent-Hopkins added an empty-net
goal to finish the Oilers' franchise-record third consecutive
comeback playoff victory.
“I think the feeling was really there after the first period that
we’re outplaying ’em, we got them where we want, and now we've just
got to push," Janmark said. "Keep pushing the gas. And even when
they scored, just try to get back, and Kaner got it right back, and
away we went.”
Andrei Kuzmenko scored and Darcy Kuemper stopped 43 shots for the
second-seeded Kings, who are one loss away from their fourth
consecutive first-round playoff exit at Edmonton's hands despite
winning the first two games at home and holding third-period leads
in the next two. Los Angeles led in the final minute of Game 4
before losing in overtime.
After a slow start, the Oilers have tilted the series decidedly in
their favor. Edmonton has outshot the Kings 79-35 since the start of
the third period of Game 4.
[to top of second column] |
Edmonton Oilers center Mattias Janmark, left, celebrates his goal
with right wing Vasily Podkolzin during the third period in Game 5
of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles
Kings, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J.
Terrill)
“They executed way better than us tonight,” Kings
coach Jim Hiller said. “They were stronger. They beat us in every
area of the game, except for the special teams, oddly enough. The
goaltender was great for us to give us a chance. They were just
better in every way. We can't look to one part of our game and think
that was acceptable.”
Kuemper made 19 saves in the first period, and Los Angeles went
ahead early in the second when Kuzmenko tipped home captain Anze
Kopitar's shot during a power play. Kuzmenko recorded his sixth
point of the postseason and his 23rd point in 27 games since joining
the Kings less than two months ago.
The Oilers answered less than three minutes later with Kane's goal
from the slot. Kane went unpunished later in the period for a
knee-on-knee hit on Kings scoring leader Adrian Kempe.
Edmonton's 33 shots in the first two periods were the most allowed
all season by Los Angeles, which was shut down after scoring 19
goals in the first four games of the series.
“We wanted to be desperate, like we were in the third period and
overtime the last game,” Pickard said. “And we did it for 60
minutes.”
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