Jonathan Quick made 31 close tackles, 48 hours after having to make way for Cal Petersen in Game 3 of the series.
Mike Smith, for his part, blocked 42 out of 45 shots that were targeting him.
The Kings scored eight minutes in the first half when defender Evan Bouchard was unable to control the puck in front of Mike Smith’s net. Philip Danault grabbed it and handed it to Trevor Moore, who scored his second goal in the playoffs.
Six minutes later, Troy Stitcher, in his first game of the series, fired toward the Oilers’ net, and the ball hit defensive man Duncan Keith’s stick before crashing into Smith’s pads.
The Oilers had three strength plays, two in the second period and one early in the third.
At first, they shot Jonathan Quick twice, but the Kings had a better chance of scoring. Philip Danault took the ball off Tyson Barry in the Kings, then crossed the ice to stand alone in front of a Mike Smith parry.
In the second power match, the Oilers were unable to net the Kings. They had two shots in the third, but they were unsuccessful.
It was the Oilers’ first goalless power game since the start of the series.
With less than five minutes remaining in the third minute, Karl Grundstrom put the match beyond Oilers’ reach. Coach Jay Woodcroft called for the video to be replayed, alleging that Mike Smith had been fouled, but the officials’ decision did not change.
Grundstrom scored another goal, this goal in an empty net.
bad start
No doubt many were expecting another offensive wave from the Oilers, but coach Jay Woodcroft made it clear that every match is a fresh start and that results from previous matches mean nothing when a new one comes along.
He would have liked to see his buddies take off better.
We knew they were going to be aggressive at the start of the match and we couldn’t react. We didn’t ski well and we lost a few fights. We have to be better in the fifth game.
The coach, who is usually quite loyal to his lines, made a few changes during the match. We’ve particularly seen Ryan Nugent Hopkins play Leon Drysittle and Zach Heyman, then Kyler Yamamoto being paired with Conor McDavid and Evander Kane.
There were many situations where we had to play four against four
the coach claimed, while later admitting that he was also trying to create a spark to generate more attack.
Derek Brassard to the rescue
Forward Derick Brassard played his first match for the Oilers in the playoffs. He replaced Derek Ryan on the list. Jay Woodcroft mentioned that Ryan was sidelined as a precaution, but he didn’t suffer a major injury.
Brassard and Zach Cassian are the only players who have never played on Jonathan Quick. Brassard received three hits and lost twice.
Six misconduct
Nerves flared after six penalties were awarded for misconduct in the final minutes of the match.
First Evander Kane and Alexander Edler after Grundstrom’s opening goal. Darnell Norse and Trevor Moore followed, then Cody Cissy and Blake Liszot went to meet their teammates in the locker room seconds later.
Both teams now return to Edmonton for game five on Tuesday.
