Game 4 Preview – Kings Focused On Opportunity + PPProduction, First Time Experience, G5 Broadcast Details

WHO: Los Angeles Kings vs. Edmonton Oilers (Kings Lead Series 2-1)
WHAT: 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Round 1, Game 4
WHEN: Sunday, April 27 @ 6:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: Rogers Place – Edmonton, Alberta
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FanDuel Sports Network & TBS – AUDIO – ESPN LA 710 & ESPN LA App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Kings are in search of a split on the road, as they take on the Edmonton Oilers in Game 4, leading the best-of-seven series by a 2-1 margin.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: With two more points in Game 3, forward Adrian Kempe continues to pace all scorers in the 2025 postseason, as he’s tallied a total of nine points (4-5-9) from his first three games played. Forward Anze Kopitar added two assists in Game 3, bringing his total to a league-leading six in the postseason to date.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held an optional morning skate today with around half the team hitting the ice in advance of Game 4.

Goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who was off first this morning, took his first playoff defeat as a King in Game 3, bringing his record this spring to 2-1. Kuemper faced 34 shots on Friday, his highest total of the postseason to date, making 29 saves.

The Kings did not take line rushes during today’s morning skate, so showing the Game 3 lineup below –

Kuzmenko – Kopitar – Kempe
Foegele – Danault – Moore
Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere
Malott – Helenius – Lewis

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Spence
Edmundson – Clarke

Kuemper
Rittich

The Kings have made one change between each game, with Trevor Lewis making his series debut in Game 3. The Kings have forward Alex Turcotte and defenseman Jacob Moverare, who have each played once thus far in the series, as well as defenseman Kyle Burroughs and forward Akil Thomas, who have yet to play.

OILERS VIALS: Edmonton held a short, yet fully attended morning skate today at Rogers Place.

Per Bob Stauffer of the Edmonton radio broadcast team, here’s how the Oilers lined up this morning –

The @EdmontonOilers morning skate:

RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Arvidsson
Kane-Henrique-Brown
Frederic-Janmark-Perry

Nurse-Bouchard
Walman-Klingberg
Kulak-Emberson

Pickard

— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) April 27, 2025

Expecting goaltender Calvin Pickard to get the start again tonight after he earned the victory in Game 3. Pickard made 24 saves on 28 shots on Friday as he picked up his second career playoff victory.

Edmonton’s lineup appears unchanged from Game 3, though it always remains to be seen if there could be changes. Tis the playoffs, after all.

Storyline Of The Day – Preferred Destination, Splitsville
After the Kings lost Game 3 on Friday, captain Anze Kopitar spoke up in the room with a simple message.

He said that if a 2-1 series lead was offered, before the series had started, the Kings would have taken it. No doubt about that. Sure, when you win the first two, it’s disappointing not to keep that going in Game 3. The 7-4 defeat was a setback, certainly. Regardless, you would rather be the team up 2-1, no matter how the first three games went. That brings us to an opportunity here tonight.

“Just another great chance for us,” forward Kevin Fiala said this morning.

Indeed, Kevin.

The Kings have the chance to get a split in Edmonton. A chance to get what they came here for. A chance to head home with the opportunity to win the series. Jim Hiller said there was no need to remind his group of the positive position they’re in. He felt the group had that down on its own.

“I think if you asked every single one of them, they would feel like we’re in a good spot,” Head Coach Jim Hiller said. “So let’s keep going.”

For the Kings, that opportunity starts with……well, the start.

Edmonton scored early in Game 3 and added a second before the Kings found their footing in the game. By the time they had settled down, they trailed 2-0. Once they got into the game, the Kings actually played quite well. There were a lot of good things in that game, despite it not being perfect.

If they can get those good things going earlier, though, it’ll certainly go a long way.

“The start is obviously important, got to do a better job than last time, but we came back, so that’s very nice for us to know that, for our confidence,” Fiala added. “We’re going to try to take the lead today……we can always get better, so we’re going to try to do it tonight.”

The thing is, it can’t take two goals against to dial things in. That won’t work on most nights.

Once the Kings started playing their game, they controlled the bulk of play in the second half of the first period and throughout the second period. In doing so, they scored four goals on Edmonton goaltender Calvin Pickard and took their first lead of the game. But – there’s always a but – had the Kings set the tone earlier with that type of hockey, we’d probably be looking at tonight as a potential clinching game. But we’re not. Goes to show the importance of playing 60 minutes and that includes starting on time.

“Being down 2-0 early is a tough hole,” goaltender Darcy Kuemper said. “We were able to claw back and then regain the lead and just keep our composure, which was huge, but obviously we would have not liked to be in that hole. Something that we need to avoid [in Game 4].”

So, we enter the day with an opportunity. Not the one it could have been but still a pretty darn good one.

I don’t think the Kings are looking to make any wholesale changes. They remain confident in the way that they’re playing. Jim Hiller was asked this morning if the 60 minutes played on Friday would be enough to get a result tonight. He responded with a simple and confident “yes”. It’s not difficult to see the path that was there in Game 3 that would’ve changed the outcome. Few different ones, really. There was certainly enough to take from that game and the two prior to feel good going into Game 4. Expecting a confident group that comes out focused on the task at hand.

“We’re looking to do that step-by-step, one game at a time,” defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov added. “We’re not looking ahead. Tonight, we have an important game and we’re looking forward to that.”

3 To Watch For –
– The Kings and Oilers combined for four power plays in Game 3.

All four wound up in the back of the net, two for each team.

For the Kings, it was the continuation of a part of their game that’s clicked throughout the early parts of this series. It took nearly the entire two minutes on both occasions, with the Kings scoring 1:48 and 1:39 in. But goals nonetheless, as the Kings hit a total of seven in three games on the series to date.

“It helps when we’re scoring,” Fiala said. “The confidence goes up, you get excited for the power plays, it’s a different feeling for sure.”

On the Edmonton side, it was the first time their man advantage got on the board in the series. The Kings certainly bent at times in Games 1 and 2 but they did not break. In Game 3, however, the Oilers were only on the power play for a total of 13 seconds on route to scoring two goals. That’s quick work.

“They know how we want to kill, we know what they’re trying to do, it’s a chess match,” defenseman Mikey Anderson said of the Edmonton power play. “They’re going to try and make some new plays, change up what they’re doing on the fly. We’ve got to try and read it. They made a good play, unfortunately we missed a couple sticks and it ends up in your net.”

That battle will continue there tonight and throughout the series. The Kings feel as confident as they have in four years on the power play, while Edmonton should certainly feel pretty good as well. A storyline to continue to monitor here heading into Game 4, with special teams remaining an extremely important part of this series.

– I found this quote from Jim Hiller interesting.

Hiller gave his thoughts on a group of Kings players before the series who were making their playoff debuts. Now, it’s a group that made their road playoff debuts in Game 3 in Edmonton. It’s a different experience. Hiller is hoping it’s one that should make the Kings just that much more comfortable the second time around.

“We talked before the series started and we had a number of different players who hadn’t played playoff games before. You get to play at home and it’s intense and you realize, wow, this is a little different. Now you go on the road and you really realize what it’s like. I’m hoping that with that one game under our belts, that we’re maybe just a little bit more comfortable overall.”

Hiller emphasized he wasn’t putting the loss on Friday on that group. Most of those players weren’t on the ice for even a goal against. But seeing, experiencing and learning is important, for individuals and the group as a whole. He’s hopeful Game 3 served as that for many.

– Lastly, two notes here on broadcast details.

Tonight’s game is back on FanDuel Sports Network West, the channel the Kings have been on for the bulk of the season, after Games 2 and 3 were on SoCal. The game is also back on ESPN LA 710, over the air, after being only on the app for Game 3.

Additionally, with Game 5 now confirmed, the NHL announced that Tuesday’s game will begin at 7 PM Pacific.

The NHL has announced the start time for Game 5 vs. Edmonton on Tuesday, April 29, will be 7:00 p.m. PT @cryptocomarena.

The game will be televised regionally on @kcalnews (Ch. 9), @NHL_On_TNT nationally in the U.S. and @Sportsnet, @CBC and @TVASports in Canada. https://t.co/KvYdYApPwk

— LA Kings PR (@LAKingsPR) April 27, 2025

Game 5 will be broadcast locally on KCAL (Channel 9) and nationally on TNT as the Kings host Edmonton at Crypto.com Arena.

What series will those networks be broadcasting, though? Will it be 3-1 Kings or a 2-2 tie? Tonight’s game will be the determining factor in that process. Should be a good one in Edmonton!