*Photo from the Globe and Mail*
Edmonton leads series 3-2
Oh, how the momentum can change so quickly. Mattias Ekholm and Darnell Nurse had two assists, Nick Bjugstad scored twice, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 6-3 on Tuesday night in Edmonton.
After rallying in game 4 to tie the series, the Oilers blew right by the Kings in game 5 to take the series lead ahead of game 6. Connor McDavid also had two assists to join Ekholm and Nurse in that category, while Bjugstad paced the Oilers with two goals.
Getting the start for the Oilers was Stuart Skinner, right back at it after being pulled in game 4. Skinner played well, making 25 saves on 28 shots he saw from the Kings, which was good for a .893 save percentage.
Skinner said after the game that "I thought it was just huge that we were able to get the win. The guys in front of me did an outstanding job. Obviously, we were able to score a few goals, which was huge. I think just how we played all night defensively, in the neutral zone, we definitely wanted it tonight."
Evander Kane started the scoring for the Oilers, giving them a 1-0 lead with a power play goal. Leon Draisaitl followed that up with a goal to double the lead to 2-0 before Alex Iafallo scored to get the Kings on the board and make it a 2-1 game. Brett Kulak scored for the Oilers to make it 3-1, followed by a goal from Adrian Kempe to cut the Kings deficit to 3-2 after one period.
Later in the second period, Edmonton got on the board again. It was Bjugstad who got it done, making the lead 4-2 with Nurse and Cody Ceci assisting. On the power play at the 15:47 mark of the second, Zach Hyman converted for the Oilers, making the lead 5-2 with assists from McDavid and Evan Bouchard.
To start the 3rd period, Bjugstad scored his second goal of the night, making the score 6-2 Oilers 4:26 into the period, assisted by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. At the 6:33 mark of the period, Quinton Byfield scored his first goal of the playoffs for the Kings, cutting the deficit to 6-3 with assists from Kevin Fiala and Gabriel Vilardi.
Bjugstad said of his two goal game that "I didn't know I had that second one; I thought Hymes did, so that was a fortunate one. I think just as a unit, a five-man unit all night, everyone was together and on the same page, and that's what it takes to win here."
Starting for the Kings in net was Joonas Korpisalo, who got the loss for the second game in a row. Korpisalo stopped 15 out of the 19 shots on goal he saw from the Oilers, good for a .789 save percentage before being pulled in the second period. Pheonix Copley made 6 saves on 8 shots in a relief effort.
Kempe said of the loss that "I think we've got to clean up some stuff from tonight. Our play in our own zone really wasn't good from the start. Stay out of the box as much as we can; it's a big factor. They got two tonight on the power play, so it was a big factor as well."
The teams get 3 days off before game 6 on Saturday back in Los Angeles. The Oilers will look for a berth in the second round, while the Kings look to win and force a game 7.
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