Game 4 FINAL – Kings 3, Oilers 4 (OT) – Danault, Foegele, Hiller

The LA Kings were unable to make a 3-1 lead stand up, as they fell by a 4-3 final score in overtime in Game 4 against the Edmonton Oilers, tying the series at two games apiece.

The Kings got on the board just past the halfway mark of a fast-paced first period as forward Trevor Moore found the back of the net for the second straight game. Off a well-executed forecheck by Moore and forward Phillip Danault, Moore worked his way off the wall, into the right-hand circle and snapped a shot past Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard for his second goal of the series and an early 1-0 lead.

Inside the first two minutes of the second period, the Kings doubled their advantage, with Danault once again the facilitator. After a turnover at the blue line, Danault fed forward Warren Foegele all alone in front of Pickard. Foegele’s first try was denied by Pickard’s left pad but he stuck with the play and got the rebound over the line for his first goal of the playoffs and a 2-0 advantage.

Skating on the power play, Edmonton got on the board just shy of five minutes into the middle stanza. After the Kings were unable to get a clear up the wall, the Oilers kept the play alive on the left-hand boards. Forward Corey Perry got a shot on goal, which was stopped by Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper, but the rebound fluttered in the air. Perry knocked it down to himself and scored from the top of the crease to make it 2-1.

Still in the opening half of the second period, the Kings pulled back in front by two as forwards Alex Laferriere and Kevin Fiala connected on a skillful goal. Laferriere lofted a pass through the neutral zone, with Fiala pulling it out of mid-air in stride. He then held off two backcheckers as he drove the net and scored on the forehand for his third goal of the series, putting the visitors ahead by a 3-1 margin.

Just shy of the halfway mark of the third period, Edmonton pulled to within 3-2 on a flukey goal from defenseman Evan Bouchard. A partial chance from the high slot was headed well wide of the net, but it hit off the skate of Kings defenseman Drew Doughty and deflected in for the goal, Bouchard’s third of the series, cutting the Kings advantage to a single goal.

Inside 30 seconds remaining in regulation, the Oilers tied the game to force overtime for the first time in the series. Forward Quinton Byfield had an opportunity to clear the zone and was unable to, extending the sequence for Edmonton in the offensive zone. Draisaitl teed up Bouchard at the center point for a one-timer and the blueliner fired through traffic and in for his second goal of the game and a 3-3 tie through 60 minutes.

The teams went into overtime tied 3-3 and despite a shots on goal disparity throuhgout the final frame in favor of Edmonton, neither team was able to breakthrough for the first 18 minutes and change.

With just 2:26 on the clock, defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov was assessed a tripping minor in his own zone, at the end of a long shift. On the ensuing power play, the Oilers scored the game-winning goal, with Draisaitl collecting his first goal and fourth point of the game to secure the victory. Stationed to the left of Kuemper, Draisaitl hit a rebound first time, into the back of the net to tie the series at two games apiece.

Hear from Danault, Foegele and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s game.

Phillip Danault

Warren Foegele
On what happened in the third period and what allowed Edmonton to come back
A couple lucky bounces, to be honest. That second goal, it hit a stick and then it bounces off the ice. They pushed hard but I really liked our game today. I thought we came out with a high intensity and we just didn’t get the bounces there. We’re looking forward to going home. We like playing at home, we’re comfortable there and now it’s best of three.

On if he felt the third periods of Game 3 and Game 4 were played similarly
No, I thought they were different. Again, I think right before they tied it, I think Kevin came down and hit the post, right? So, we’re talking about bounces, game of inches. I thought we pushed a lot harder in this third than in Game 3 but we just didn’t get the bounces.

On if it is discouraging to play so well for 40 minutes and not get the result
Yeah, obviously, it’s unfortunate we didn’t get the result. I’m proud of the guys, the way they battled. I thought, like I said, we played hard and now we’re excited to go home.

On if he says anything to Quinton Byfield after the play on the game-tying goal
No, he tried to make the right play, he tried to chip it out and their guy just somehow got a stick on it. You know, it happens. It’s part of the game. Again, he’s trying to do the right thing and we told him don’t worry about it. We tried to push in OT and I don’t know if that was a penalty, but we’ll move on.

On if this loss is more painful than Game 3
I think they’re all painful, right? At the end of the day, you’re trying to get to the first one to four wins. Obviously we’re disappointed, but like I said before and we’re excited to go home.

Jim Hiller
On how the team needs to change their approach in the third period
Next question. We’re that far away on the empty net. Q chips that one out, Bouchard makes a good play or we’re not even talking about it.

On what he liked from the first 40 minutes and if he thought it carried over into the third
Our skating, I thought we skated all game. It’s something we wanted to do and I thought we skated a lot better tonight than in Game 3. We had plenty of opportunities and we did not [capitalize]. So, here we are, heading home 2-2. They got a power play in overtime, those are tough.

On how the group emotionally recovers from that kind of game
Well, that’s the beauty of the game. That’s the beauty of working with professional athletes. They’re men, they’re young men, but they’re men and they’ve got to go. At home, it’s easy, you’ve got 20,000 people cheering on. On the road, you’ve got 20,000 people getting after you. You’re fighting and that’s why they’re playing at this level. They suck it up, they answer questions, they get a rest, they get ready to go do it all over again. That’s the beauty of what we get to witness. They’re men. Professionals.

On if he says anything to Quinton Byfield after the game
He didn’t have to go through it on his own, his guys, his teammates got him. He’s made that play all year. I’m not worried about that play one bit for Quinton. I’m proud of the 28 minutes he gave us tonight, how hard he played and I know he’ll be ready to play the next game. You shake those things off. It doesn’t go your way every single time, you shake it off, you come back again.

On if he felt fatigue was a factor in the third period and overtime
I don’t know, it could be. They’ve got a pretty good team. They’ll come at you. I’m sure they didn’t feel very good about us coming at them. They got their legs under them and they came at us for a while, but I think they’ve got a pretty good team. It happens. It ebbs and flows.

Notes –
• Forward Trevor Moore (1-0=1) scored his second consecutive five-hole goal in as many games for his fourth point (2-2=4) of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Moore’s stretch marks his best postseason-opening performance since 2022, when he posted five points (2-3=5) in the Kings’ first four games.
• Forward Warren Foegele (1-0=1) scored his first goal of the postseason, his third point (1-2=3) against his former team in this Round One series.
• Forward Kevin Fiala (1-0=1) scored his third goal of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, his fifth point (3-2=5) of the series. Fiala has found the score sheet in each game this series and now has a five-game postseason point streak (3-3=6) against the Oilers dating back to Game 5 of last year’s playoffs (May 1, 2024).
• Forward Phillip Danault (0-2=2) picked up his fourth and fifth assists for his sixth and seventh points (2-5=7) of the series. With his third multi-point game of the playoffs, (2-0=2 in R1G1 on April 21; 0-2=2 in RG13 on April 25), Danault becomes the fifth player in franchise history with as many such performances within the first four games of a postseason, joining teammate Adrian Kempe (2025), Zigmund Palffy (2002), Todd Elik (1990) and Luc Robitaille (2x: 1988, 1990).
• The center’s first assist secured his first career four-game point streak in the postseason. Danault is the third Kings skater since 2014 to post a run of at least that length in a single playoffs, joining Adrian Kempe (5-3=8 in 6 GP) and Gabe Vilardi (2-2=4 in 4 GP), who both did so in 2023.
• Forward Alex Laferriere (0-1=1) tallied his first point of the playoffs by assisting on Fiala’s marker.

The Kings will not practice tomorrow, in advance of their flight back to Los Angeles. The team will return to the ice on Tuesday, April 29 for morning skate at 10:30 AM at Toyota Sports Performance Center.