kiffinmcginnis 
The LA Kings needed a review in overtime to take their second win of the best-of-seven series after regulation on a goal from Trevor Moore.
Scoring
1st Period
LAK – Alex Iafallo (2), Assists: Matt Roy (2), Anze Kopitar (4)
2nd Period
EDM – Connor McDavid (1) (Power Play), Assists: Evan Bouchard (2), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2)
EDM – Connor McDavid (2) (Power Play), Assists: Evan Bouchard (3), Leon Draisaitl (3)
LAK – Adrian Kempe (3) (Power Play), Assists: Viktor Arvidsson (3), Drew Doughty (1)
3rd Period
No Goals
OVERTIME
LAK – Trevor Moore (1), Assists: Gabriel Vilardi (1), Quinton Byfield (2)
A few takeaways from the LA Kings’ Game 3 win in plus/minus form:
– Connor McDavid
A Game Breaker. He is literally a CHEL Be a Pro with Franchise potential and five Superstar abilities. His first goal of the game was on Joonas Korpisalo’s glove side; an epic blast. For the second, he had that shot blocked out by a sprawling Drew Doughty so he just decided to go short side. No biggie, right? The Kings have to find a way to stop him as this series goes on. Phil Danault seems to be the answer to that, but there’s only so much that he can do. It’s also time to stop McDavid from sitting to Korpisalo’s right. From the circle, McDavid had five shots, and two of them went in. You can’t let him stay around that part of the ice. Add in the two shots he took up close and the blocked shot from dead center, McDavid is accounting for 20% of total shots by the Oilers from one area of the ice. Something the LA Kings need to focus on.
+ Joonas Korpisalo
The man is doing his job. He turned aside 38 pucks in this game, looking like a goaltender who is ready to take a huge step as the goalie who can carry a team on a deep playoff run. After a career spent middling in Columbus, it’s nice to see Korpisalo play on a contending team that gives him enough to compete every game. He’s facing down some of the best players in the NHL at the moment and acting like he’s been doing it every day for a decade. It’s really great to see.
– Shots are not being limited
For as great as Korpisalo has been, the LA Kings are allowing a lot of shots. This is not normal for a team that allowed only 27.9 shots on average in the regular season. To add to the trepidation, the Kings only won seven games in the regular season where they were outshot by their opponents. They have to become the shot-limiting team again if they want to continue this excellent season into the deeper rounds of the playoffs.
+ Byfield on the rise
Quinton Byfield had a ton of great looks during this game. Per Natural Stat Trick, he had a 56.10 Corsi for percentage through the game. Once he can start hitting the net, he’s going to be dangerous. interestingly, he also rode an xGF percentage of 60.97% (or a 1.21), meaning he should be scoring. Getting snake bitten in the NHL happens pretty regularly, QB is going to have to get himself out of the situation.
I had to do a double take, but #LAKings 5v5 numbers after 1
CF 59.1%
SCF 64.3%
HDCF 83.3%
xGF 73.6%Playing in Edmonton zone > playing in LA zone.#GoKingsGo #Oilers
— Joe W. Patarino (@JWPatarino) April 22, 2023
+ The deeper you are, the better you feel
The LA Kings have depth. Proving night in and night out over the regular season, the Kings can win games because everyone contributes. The Oilers scored two goals in Game 3, meaning six total players could have gotten on the score sheet; only four did. For the LA Kings, their total of possible point scorers was nine and they got nine different players on the score sheet. That kind of depth is how the LA Kings have forced comebacks and haven’t been counted out of games yet. Continuing to play like that will lead to a lot of positives as this series wears on. Looking at you, Alex Iafallo.
+ Thousand Oaks Celebration
What a feeling to see Trevor Moore bury that shot in overtime to seal the game. Trevor was limited to only 59 games this season due to injury, scoring just 10 goals. With his time in the lineup being a bit inconsistent, it was great to see him take advantage of the moment in the extra frame. His line, dubbed “The Nice Line”, centered by Danault generates a lot of really good looks and we could be starting to see the beginnings of a playoff Trevor Moore emerging.
TREVOR MOORE! KINGS WIN! #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/cW5t063C5Q
— x – Hockey Royalty (@Hockey_Royalty) April 22, 2023
The LA Kings and Edmonton Oilers are back at it for Game 4 on Sunday. Puck drop is at 6:15 local time. See you all there and Go Kings Go!
Featured image credit: nhl.com