If the Kings-Oilers series was a title fight instead of a hockey playoff, even a blind referee might consider stopping it.
Through three games, the Kings have been outshot, outskated, outhit and outscored. Boy, have they been outscored: Edmonton twice led the opener of the first-round series by four goals and they won Game 3 on Friday by five, 6-1.
The Kings’ penalty kill has been deadly — for the Kings, with the Oilers scoring seven times in 14 man-advantage opportunities. The Kings, meanwhile, have been shut out on their 10 power plays.
Pick any stat and chances are the Oilers have a big edge.
Except one.
For all of Edmonton’s dominance, the Oilers lead the best-of-seven series by only a game, meaning the Kings can even things by climbing off the canvas to win Game 4 on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
Read more: Frustrated Kings have no answer for high-scoring Oilers in Game 3 blowout loss
“I know for sure it’s two for them, one for us,” said Jim Hiller, the team’s coach. “And you need four wins for the series.”
In other words, it isn’t over until it’s over — even if it really looks like it’s over. That, apparently, is the Kings’ story and they’re sticking to it.
“It’s 2 to 1 in the series,” defenseman Matt Roy agreed. “We could have lost 10-1. It doesn’t matter. It’s just 2-1 and we’re gonna bounce back and get ready to go.”
“There’s stuff you can learn from any game, win or lose,” he continued. “So we’ll take a look at things and go from there.”
The Kings have been here before, of course, losing to the Oilers in the first round of the playoffs each of the last two years. That’s not exactly encouraging. Two years ago they split their first two playoff games with the Oilers on the road, then lost Game 3 at home by six goals. Through three games of that series, the Kings had been outscored 17-6.
This year the Kings split the first two games with the Oilers on the road, then lost Game 3 at home by five goals. Through three games of this series, the Kings have been outscored 17-10.
In the Kings’ locker room, that doesn’t matter.
“Like I said, it’s 2 to 1,” Roy repeated. “We’re still in the series, we’re not out of it. And no one’s going to quit in here.”
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Yet the Kings clearly have a lot of work to do and precious little time to get it done.
For starters, they have to button down a penalty kill that ranked second in the…