Time is on the side of the Edmonton Oilers after extending their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings.
Edmonton limped into the post-season with several key players missing multiple games, or longer, down the stretch as they tried to regain their form at the start of the series.
Sunday’s 4-3 overtime win in Game 4 at Rogers Place not only squared up the best-of-seven series at two wins apiece heading back to Los Angeles on Tuesday, but lengthened the Oilers’ runway to kick their team cohesion into a higher gear.
“The longer we can drag this out, I think it’ll benefit us,” said Oilers forward and overtime hero Leon Draisaitl, who missed all but one of Edmonton’s last dozen games of the regular season with an undisclosed injury.
“With every game, we’re going to find a little bit more from each and every guy.”
Zach Hyman sat out the last three games of regular season and captain Connor McDavid played three of the last 13.
Edmonton Oilers tie series after Game 4 win
Evander Kane’s two games in this series were his first since Game 2 of last year’s Stanley Cup final. He contributed a goal and an assist to Edmonton’s 7-3 win in Game 3.
Kane missed the entire regular season because of September sports hernia surgery, January knee surgery and the accompanying rehab.
Defender John Klingberg appeared in just 11 regular-season games after signing with Edmonton in January following double hip surgery. He was back on the shelf after blocking a shot with his ankle March 27 before returning for Game 2.
“I feel good,” Klingberg said. “This is the best I’ve moved so far, I think, on the ice. The time off with my ankle and the meds probably helped my hips a little bit.”
Forward Trent Frederic played one regular-season game for the Oilers after he was acquired at the trade deadline because of a high ankle sprain. He joined the lineup for the playoffs.
“It’s not easy when you have a bunch of guys out of the lineup and there’s not much consistency with lines, with lineups, with players,” Hyman said. “When players are healthy, it doesn’t happen right away.
“If you miss a lot of time, you need a game to get caught up to speed or a couple games. It’s hard to do that in the playoffs where everything is magnified.
“We have a bunch of guys who are starting to feel really good and starting to feel more like themselves and I think that only helps our team.”
But the Oilers keenly feel the continued absence of big-minute defenceman Mattias Ekholm, who didn’t make it back into the lineup for the series.
That’s altered Edmonton’s back-end chemistry, particularly for his defensive partner Evan Bouchard.
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Bouchard was minus-three over the first two periods of Game 4, but compensated on the offensive side of the ledger with a pair of third-period goals to send it to overtime.
“We’ve got a lot of good hockey players, a lot of guys who unfortunately had missed time, so they’re not at their top performance,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said before Game 4.
“We’ve got other guys who are just coming back too, that have been missed, not only them individually, but also collectively on who they’re playing with and getting some cohesion.”
Edmonton won the special-teams battle for the first time in the series Sunday with two goals on three power-play chances, while holding the Kings scoreless on three chances.
After 38 saves in Game 4, expect regular-season backup Calvin Pickard back in net Tuesday.
The Kings played a shorter bench than the Oilers in Game 4. L.A. relied heavily on four defencemen and nine forwards.
“You’re trying to wear the other group down. They’re trying to wear us down,” McDavid said. “I think maybe we’re using more guys than they are, which is a positive.”
The Oilers will need a road win at Crypto.com Arena to take the series, where the Kings are the winningest home team in the NHL.
“We believe we can win in any building,” McDavid said.
