The Edmonton Oilers are looking to even the series and make the series a best of 3. After being down 2-0 a win tonight would pull the Oilers out of the depths of despair and turn the pressure back to the Kings. With the Kings losing to the Oilers in the past season, with them starting to lose a couple of games in a row the doubt will start to creep in.
The Oilers will need to weather the Kings early attack this game. I expect the Los Angeles Kings will push hard to get an early lead. In games one and two the Kings got out to a lead and eventually got the win, in game three the Oilers got up early, although they did give up the lead to the Kings but eventually ended up getting the win.
The first goal in this series has crucial, so I expect the Kings to come out hard in order to get that important first goal. If the Oilers are able to get first goal, then I fully expect a game where the Oilers will actually lead the whole game this time. If they get scored on early, I do not think the Kings will let the Oilers have any space on the ice and will lock it down better than they have earlier in this series. The Oilers have now been able to come back and tie games in 2/3 games, do not expect the Kings to allow that many more times.
Another area that will be important tonight is special team. In game 3 both teams were able to find success when up a man, both powerplays have been good this series. It will be crucial to the win to kill off penalties or more importantly stay out of the box. I think there will be a direct correlation between the team who gets the most powerplays and which team wins. With the Oilers powerplay finally figuring out the Kings penalty both teams will want to stay out of the box tonight.
This is once again an important game for the Edmonton Oilers. If the Oilers are able to win this game, then they will be heading back to LA with a change to take the series lead and have the chance to close out the series back in Edmonton in game 6. If the Oilers lose tonight, they will be fighting for their lives the rest of the series. This is why a win tonight will be crucial.