Edmonton Oilers collapse in stunning 4-3 (OT) loss to the Los Angeles Kings

First blood in the Oilers-Kings playoff series has been drawn and it is bright orange and blue.

In a stunner of all stunners, Edmonton let a game it led all evening slip through its fingers with 16.7 seconds left in regulation and then lost 4-3 in overtime.

The Oilers were up 2-0 after 20 minutes, up 3-1 midway though the third period and up 3-2 in the waning seconds, but couldn’t find a way to put stubborn Los Angeles away.

And now they trail the series 1-0.

Anze Kopitar scored the equalizer on the power play power and Alex Iafallo scored another power play marker 9:19 into overtime to send the shell-shocked hosts crashing to defeat.

Edmonton got off to the exact start it was looking for. They went after the Kings from the opening bell in a fast, physical and emotional opening 20 minutes and jumped in front on a goal from Draisaitl at 6:57 and Bouchard at 12:31.

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Edmonton Oilers left winger Zach Hyman(18) watches the puck fly past Los Angeles Kings goalie Joonas Korpisalo (70) during the first period in game one of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place.Photo by Walter Tychnowicz /USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

But the Kings are a hard team to pull away from and just when it looked like Edmonton might turn this into a rout, they found themselves locked in another tight, hard-fought battle with their Pacific Division rivals.

The Kings hung around and hung around, through a scoreless second period, and closed the gap to 2-1 goal on Adrian Kempe’s goal just 52 seconds into the third period. When Draisaitl restored the two-goal cushion at 8:36, Kempe scored again to tighten the noose again at 11:23.

Then, disaster. Evan Bouchard took a high-sticking penalty to put Los Angeles on the power play with 1:50 left in regulation. Then, with 16.7 seconds left in regulation, Skinner let a loose puck squeak through his pads and Kopitar tapped it home to force overtime.

A tripping penalty to Vincent Desharnais put L.A. on the power play for the winner.

LATE HITS — Draisaitl’s first goal gave him 60 career playoff points in 38 games, making him the third-fastest player to reach 60 behind Wayne Gretzky (26) and Mario Lemieux (34). Connor McDavid didn’t get a point in regulation but he made a big impact with his warp speed, drawing back-to-back penalties (Drew Doughty for hooking and Mikey Anderson for holding) to set up the two-man advantage that led to Edmonton’s second goal.

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com