The Los Angeles Kings were 20 minutes away from pushing the Edmonton Oilers to the brink of elimination and taking a commanding 3-0 lead in a series they have largely dominated. Twenty minutes away from stealing that all-important road win, and after two periods of play, they were in the perfect spot to do so. Instead, a flat third period combined with what had to have been the most mind-numbing coach’s challenge has now injected some life into the Oilers.
With just under seven minutes to go, Evander Kane, in his second game of the season, had inside position in front of the net and looked to have kicked the puck past Darcy Kuemper to tie the game up at four. After being reviewed for a potential kicking motion, it was revealed that Kane kicked the puck up to his stick before shoveling it past the goal line.
Still, the Kings weren’t willing to accept the fact that the Oilers had tied the game. They called a timeout and eventually decided to challenge that play for goaltender interference. Shocking, ridiculous, head-scratching, and confusing are all words you could use to describe Kings head coach Jim Hiller’s decision to challenge that play for goaltender interference when there so clearly wasn’t any.
To nobody’s surprise, the goal stood, and the Oilers, who had all the momentum in the third period and had just tied the game, igniting a raucous crowd inside Rogers Arena, were headed to the power play with a chance to take the lead with just over six minutes left in regulation.
“We don’t want to give them a power play, but clearly we felt that that challenge was in our favor, but the league disagreed, and we move on,” said Hiller. “The next step would have been for us to kill the penalty, that didn’t happen either. It’s a tough stretch for us, there’s no question. That’s hockey, that’s playoff hockey, especially.”
Not only did the league not agree with Hiller and the Kings, but you couldn’t find a person outside of the organization who did. A follow-up question asking what exactly they felt so strongly about that propelled their decision to challenge that play would have been nice because not a single person, fan, reporter, or analyst has a clue as to what the Kings’ coaching staff was looking at.
It’s one thing to watch that play over and over and think there was any sort of interference involved, but it’s the circumstances that make it so much worse. It was all Oilers in the third; they had all the momentum, and the Kings handed their known-to-be-dangerous power play a second opportunity after they had already broken through once earlier. If you are going to challenge a goal at that point in the game, you better be 100% sure you are winning it, otherwise you are asking for trouble.
That was a game-deciding move that didn’t work in the Kings’ favor and pretty much propelled the Oilers to victory. What’s done is done, and the only thing to do now is move forward, but the Kings can only hope that their decision to challenge stays a game-deciding move and not a series-altering move, because if the Kings end up losing this series, you can bet that this going to be brought up countless more times.
Kings Weren’t Far Off From Pulling Out Road Win
The Kings exploited the Oilers in every which way throughout the first two games. They squashed narrative after narrative, putting up 12 goals in two games. They exposed the Oilers’ goaltending for what it is, dominated the special teams game, controlled the play at 5-on-5, and outscored the Oilers’ two-headed monster that just won’t allow their team to fall out of any game. Without Connor McDavid, the Kings would have had two blowout wins under their belt.
After doing all of that at home, where the Kings thrived all season, the question was, could that translate on the road, where things didn’t go so well for them during the season? They weren’t going to get the matchups they wanted, and they were up against a desperate team that was getting the chance to play in front of their fans for the first time. Were the Kings going to be able to withstand all of that and force the Oilers into complete panic mode?
The answer was no, but they weren’t far from it.
Aside from some McMagic in the third period of Game 1, the Kings have undoubtedly been the better team, because for the first time in the past four seasons, they actually are the better team. However, Game 3 was a little different. The Oilers got off to a strong start, which was expected of them. First game at home down 2-0 in a series warrants a push from any team, and with the entirety of Rogers Place feeding them energy, the Oilers found themselves with a 2-0 lead before the halfway mark of the first frame.
The Kings were overwhelmed early, there’s no doubt about it, but they fought through the “big push” that they knew was coming and stopped the bleeding after going down 2-0. They say the most elite players take their game up to another level come playoff time, and boy, has Adrian Kempe continued to be a thorn in the Oilers’ side, now with a league-leading nine points in three games. It was none other than Kempe who got the Kings on the board, roofing one glove-hand side on Calvin Pickard, who made his series debut as a starter.
“We knew they were going to come out hard, it’s their home rink, they obviously didn’t like the first two games,” said Mikey Anderson. “So, maybe a little slower start, giving up a couple, but found a way to regroup.”
Kempe’s late first-period goal prompted what was the Kings’ best period of the game. Oddly enough, after losing composure more times than not during middle frames in the regular season, it’s been the Kings’ second periods these playoffs that have been their strongest. The Kings tacked on two more goals in the second, one of which was another power-play goal courtesy of Drew Doughty. Eventually, with a few minutes left in the second period and nine seconds after the Oilers tied the game at three, the California-native Trevor Moore scored what had to have been the most beautiful goal of his career, tucking one five-hole on Pickard with just one hand on his stick as he fought off Oilers defenseman Jake Walman.
Absolute ridiculous stuff from Trevor Moore and it couldn’t have came at a more perfect time. #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/E6Aq9gghra
— Raz Devraj (@razdevraj) April 26, 2025
With Moore’s tally, the Kings took a 4-3 lead into the second intermission. The Kings found themselves in a familiar situation, a situation they had found success in multiple times throughout the season. Grinding out third periods and coming away with the win was something the Kings were doing regularly. With only a one-goal lead, keeping the foot on the gas should have been the only game plan. A one-goal lead isn’t enough insurance to come out in the third and sit back and defend your way to a win in the playoffs, and it definitely isn’t enough when you have a high-powered offense coming at you.
“I mean, they were playing down a goal, playing desperate, they are down 2-0 in the series, not that we weren’t playing with desperation, we were, but, I mean, that’s just kind of human nature. You know you’re gonna sit back a little more than you probably should, and they brought it to us,” Doughty said.
All season long, the Kings took it to their opponents in the third period. They didn’t sit back, but instead pushed for more. The same thing happened in Game 2 when the Oilers brought themselves within one early on in the third. The Kings responded with three goals in a row to put the game away. Why all of a sudden did the Kings decide that sitting back, not being as aggressive, and allowing a desperate Oilers team to throw everything they had at them offensively with no pushback was the path toward a win?
Related Link: Why This Year’s LA Kings Are Poised to Finally Beat the Oilers
A combination of third-period miscues caused Game 3 to slip out of the Kings’ hands. They had it, they were in a prime position to snag one on the road, but things aren’t always going to work out, especially during playoff hockey. The Kings weren’t far from a road win, and if anything, they now know what they need to clean up for Game 4 to make sure they take a 3-1 series lead back to Los Angeles. Experiencing some adversity keeps you grounded and should just add more fuel to the fire to get the job done in the next one.
“Yeah, it sucks, but if you look at it, we’re still in a good place,” said Anderson. “You get to come back in two nights and get another stab at it, which is the best part.”
Well, we officially have a series now, but as we look toward Game 4 on Sunday, the goal remains the same for the Kings: steal one on the road.
