The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 6-1 in Game 3 of the 2024 Western Conference First Round at Crypto.com Arena on Friday (April 26). Edmonton now leads the Stanley Cup Playoffs best-of-seven series 2-1.
Related: Oilers Pound Kings 6-1 in Game 3 for a 2-1 Series Lead
Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman each scored twice for the Oilers, who also got goals from Evander Kane and Connor McDavid. Drew Doughty was the only Kings player to solve Edmonton netminder Stuart Skinner, who made 27 saves for the win.
Edmonton has now scored 17 goals in the first three games of the series, showcasing an offensive firepower that is truly generational. Having already put up several historical stats in Game 1 of the series, the Oilers were at it again on Friday, when Hyman, Kane and McDavid made their marks on the record book.
Zach Hyman: Six Goals in Series
After recording a hat trick in Game 1 and scoring once in Game 2, Hyman on Friday added two more goals to his postseason total. With his six tallies, Hyman has tied Hall-of-Famer Jari Kurri for most goals through the first three games of the playoffs by an Oilers player. Kurri scored half a dozen times against the Kings in the first three games of the 1987 Smythe Division Semi-Final.
Besides Hyman and Kurri, only nine other players have scored at least six goals through the first three games of the NHL postseason. Newsy Lalonde holds the all-time record with eight goals for the Montreal Canadiens in 1919.
This is the second time in the last three postseasons that Hyman has scored at least one goal in each of the first three games of a series. He scored in all five games of Edmonton’s Round 2 victory over the Calgary Flames in 2022.
Connor McDavid: Eight Assists in Series
Along with a goal on Friday, McDavid recorded two assists. Edmonton’s captain now has eight apples in the series, including five in Game 1 and one in Game 2, which puts him in some exclusive company, albeit company that he’s used to keeping.
That’s because the only other player in NHL history with at least eight assists in the first three games of a postseason is Oilers legend Wayne Gretzky. The Great One amassed nine assists in Games 1 through 3 against Los Angeles in 1987 (the same series in which Kurri had six goals in the first three contests) and had eight apples in the first three games against Montreal in the 1981 Preliminary Round. Draisaitl holds the record for most assists in a single postseason series, with 15 versus Calgary in 2022.
Additionally, with one goal and eight assists, McDavid is tied for the eighth-most points in the first three games of a postseason in the NHL.
Evander Kane: Gordie Howe Hat Trick
With fewer fisticuffs in the NHL compared to previous eras, the “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” doesn’t happen very often these days. In the case of the Oilers, nearly four decades had passed since an Edmonton player had a goal, an assist, and a fighting major in the same Stanley Cup Playoff game.
Until Friday, that is, when Kane assisted on Draisaitl’s goal in the opening period, scored on Kings goalie Cam Talbot in the middle frame, and dropped the gloves with L.A.’s Andreas Englund in the third period.
Kane is just the fourth player in Oilers playoff history with a Gordie Howe Hat Trick, joining Glenn Anderson (against the Winnipeg Jets on May 5, 1984), Dave Hunter (against the Flames on April 20. 1986), and Craig MacTavish (at Calgary on April 24, 1986).
The Oilers could very well make even more history when they return to Crypto.com Arena for Game 4 on Sunday (April 28) night. But the most important thing for Edmonton is beating L.A. to take a 3-1 series lead, which would give the Oilers an opportunity to wrap up the series with a Game 5 win back home at Rogers Place on Wednesday.
