Oilers’ ‘strong belief’ in themselves helps them overcome Kings in Game 4 to tie series

The Edmonton Oilers won Game 4 against the L.A. Kings in a thrilling fashion Sunday night.

It was the first playoff overtime goal of his National Hockey League career.

And the Game 4 winner Sunday night is Leon Draisaitl’s personal favourite of all time. So far.

“I’d put it No. 1,” Draisaitl told media after the Edmonton Oilers came back Sunday night to beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in Game 4 of their first-round NHL playoff series.

“It’s probably the most important goal to this day that I’ve scored in my career. Hopefully, there are a couple more to come that are even more important, but I’ll take that for now.”

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The star Oilers centre and the league’s leading goal-scorer over the regular season shot the puck past sprawling Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper on a late frame power play to complete the comeback. Edmonton was down 3-1 heading into the third period of a game that, if they lost, would put them on the brink of elimination against a team they’d beaten in the post-season the last three years.

Instead, the series between the Pacific Division rivals is tied at two each with Game 5 slated for Tuesday in Los Angeles.

“We have a strong belief in here,” Oilers star Connor McDavid, who notched assists on his team’s final three goals, told media after the game.

“We have a strong belief that we’re never out. People are doubting us, we’re putting ourselves in bad spots, but we’re working. We’re digging our way out, trying to find ways to win games and found a way tonight. Not a recipe for success, but we found a way to win.”

The Oilers’ fortunes started to turn in the third period, with defenceman Evan Bouchard scoring almost eight minutes into it to bring a decidedly sombre Rogers Place crowd alive.

And after 40 minutes in which Edmonton managed just 15 shots on a stingy Kuemper and an even stingier Kings defence – Oilers players were mostly kept to the perimeter over the first two frames – the Oilers poured on the shots in the third, matching what they’d done in periods one and two.

“I thought we wore them down,” McDavid said of how the Oilers managed to find a way to break through. “They like to absorb pressure. That can be taxing at times ... we wore them down through the second half of the game and just stuck with it.”

And with Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard pulled for an extra attacker, Bouchard scored again with 29 seconds left to send the game to overtime.

Energized, the Oilers dominated overtime, firing 18 shots to the Kings’ seven and controlling play inside the L.A. zone for much of extra time until Draisaitl’s tally with 1:42 left.

“That’s the mentality that we have, that we’ll never quit no matter what,” said Draisaitl, who led the Oilers in Game 4 scoring with a goal and three assists for four points.

“We’ve shown that in the series so far, maybe a little too much. We have to find a way to play with a lead and play that type of game as well because we’re good at that. We need to prove that and show that.”

Not only did the Oilers execute their game plan more effectively in the latter stages of the game, they were “faster” and “fresher,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch.

“The minutes of our guys compared to theirs ... you saw it in overtime how much faster and quicker we were, but a lot less wear and tear,” Knoblauch said. “You have to get to that point, and we almost didn’t.”