Kings rout Oilers in Game 4, even first round series

LOS ANGELES –– The Kings spent an entire season defying the odds and on Sunday they extended a resilient campaign that has undermined experts from start to finish.

They orchestrated a 4-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at Crypto.com Arena to even their best-of-seven series at two games a side.

Entering the year, the Kings were widely projected to turn in a fourth straight miserable march to nowhere. Heading into Sunday’s match, they lingered in the towering shadow cast by two consecutive six-goal losses that appeared to swing the series dramatically in Edmonton’s favor.

But Game 4 saw a pivot back toward the puck-hunting, prediction-bucking Kings that gutted out an unforeseen return to the playoffs amid adverse circumstances.

“As bad as those games felt, the series wasn’t out of hand at all and now we’re back to all square, and we’ll try and worry about the next one,” said defenseman Mikey Anderson, who doled out a game-high six hits.

Winger Carl Grundstrom, who missed Game 3 due to injury, led the way with two goals and an assist. Forward Trevor Moore and defenseman Troy Stecher, who made his first postseason appearance as a King, each contributed a goal and an assist.

Jonathan Quick dazzled in goal after being pulled in Game 3. He made 31 saves in a resplendent shutout that harkened back to his dominant playoff performances of the 2010s. In fact, his last postseason shutout came in Game 3 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. He now holds the record for most playoff shutouts by an American netminder, having surpassed his idol Mike Richter.

Edmonton’s Mike Smith stopped 42 of 45 shots in defeat. He has won just two of his past 13 postseason decisions.

The Kings carried a 34-18 advantage in shots on goal into the second intermission. They had to absorb more of the play early in the third period as Edmonton’s strategy became more risk-on and its game grew more frenetic.

But midway through the stanza, Edmonton’s sustained offensive-zone time led not to a Kings penalty but rather an offensive-zone interference minor on Edmonton star Connor McDavid. That relieved the mounting pressure and though the Kings did not score on the power play, they sealed Edmonton’s fate with a marker by Grundstrom with 4:54 remaining. He also added an empty-net goal with 91 seconds to play.

As Grundstrom drove the net, he was pushed and taken down from behind by defenseman Darnell Nurse. While Grundstrom continued sliding toward Smith, he slipped the puck past him as all three men formed a pile of humanity in the crease, where both teams promptly gathered for pushing, shoving and two separate video reviews that upheld the goal.

“Pretty darn good night for (Grundstrom). He’s been a really good player for us down the stretch, a trusting player, reliable,” McLellan said.

A first period free of power plays aided the Kings in leaping out to a 2-0 lead, but in the second they had to kill a pair of penalties and did so with aplomb. Edmonton managed just two shots in four minutes with the man advantage, and the Kings’ PK triumphed for a change Sunday.

In the final two minutes of the period, it was Quick again repelling an Edmonton offensive. After losing his glove, he made a barehanded save on winger Kailer Yamamoto, whose shot struck Quick and then the crossbar. He would recover, still sans mitt, to make a blocker save on a subsequent bid from winger Evander Kane, eliciting a roar from the crowd.

“You just see the puck and try to get something in front of it,” said the always understated Quick, while McLellan lobbied softly for a rule change that stops play immediately in that situation as the NHL presently dictates when a goalie loses his helmet, but not his glove or skate blade.

Less than three minutes into the second period, the Kings nearly scored during a goalmouth scramble but winger Brendan Lemieux was pulled from behind and away from a puck lying loose in front of the goalline. Center Phillip Danault would later turn a takeaway into a breakaway, only to be foiled by Smith.

Before the game, the Kings spoke of grasping the heft of the moment and playing opportunistically. Despite energy and alacrity early, they could not convert on their first two prime chances.

Right off the hop, defenseman Alex Edler’s shot generated a sterling followup opportunity for Moore that went for naught. Center Blake Lizotte later slammed the puck against the post with a huge opening to shoot at from close range.

That all changed eight minutes into the first, when Moore scored the sort of close-quarters goal that was surely a welcome sight on the bench and in the stands alike. A dump-in allowed the Kings’ forecheck to get set up and Grundstrom to recover the puck. It popped toward the goal, where Danault darted in on his backhand to pull Smith toward the right post. Instead of shooting, he dropped a pass for Moore at the left upright for a tap-in tally.

After a successful penalty kill, it was Lizotte’s turn to atone. He initiated a scoring sequence and provided a screen in front as Stecher let fly with a shot from above the right faceoff circle. It deflected off defenseman Duncan Keith’s stick and past Smith with 5:57 to play in the first.

Quick finished the frame with a stellar save on defenseman Brett Kulak to preserve the Kings’ hard-earned lead and close the period. It was the sort of door-slamming mentality he and the Kings displayed for 60 minutes on Sunday.

“If there was ever a night we needed somebody that’s been there and done it, it was tonight,” McLellan said of his “not difficult” decision to start Quick.

Yet the Kings were quick to caution that each game was its own entity and a new endeavor.

“It starts again every night. We’re getting on the plane, it’s over now,” McLellan said. “Because if momentum carried over, we would have been drilled tonight. They had all of it. So, no momentum.”

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