Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 in Game 2 of their Western Conference First Round series at Scotiabank Place.
The victory pulled Edmonton even in the series with Game 3 set for Friday night in Los Angeles.
Derek Ryan and Klim Kostin also scored for the Oilers and Stuart Skinner made 23 saves.
Philip Danault and Gabriel Vilardi had the Los Angeles goals, and Joonas Korpisalo stopped 33 shots.
The Kings were outshot 11-3 in the first period and didn't record their first shot on goal until 2:02 remained.
"I think it was pretty obvious", Vilardi said. "The first period, we can't come out like that. It's tough to climb back when you're down 2-0. We fought back, but we weren't able to come through."
Edmonton controls the play, takes Game 2
Ryan was fortunate to put Edmonton in front 2:34 into the game. A shot by Draisaitl hit his stick, went off the end boards and came to Ryan in front.
Draisaitl made it 2-0 with the Oilers on the power play. He received a cross-ice pass from Connor McDavid and one-timed it past Korpisalo for his fifth point of the series.
"I think he's been the best player on the ice through two games in the series by far", said head coach Jay Woodcroft. "He found a way to get things done in different ways, and it was a big reason we won the game tonight."
Danault cut it to 2-1, scoring on his own rebound and was pleased with the Kings fightback despite the loss.
"We had momentum in the second and third", he said. " ... "We didn't panic, but we definitely need a better start. I thought the character was there and we came back again."
Vilardi tied the game with 44 seconds left in the second period, stuffing the puck past Skinner's right skate. He missed the last ten games because of an upper-body injury.
"It's bittersweet", he said. "It doesn't feel as good [in a loss], but it's nice to get one and we're on to Friday."
Kostin scored the eventual game-winner 2:20 into the third period, his snap shot from the left faceoff circle marking his first career Stanley Cup playoff goal.
"First of all, I was looking for [Drasaitl] actually, I was trying to get the puck in his hands", he said. "I trust him more than myself. But I just saw three guys around me and I had nothing I could do, so I just shot the puck and it went in."
An empty-net goal by Evander Kane with 23 seconds left provided the final margin.
"For us, we have a team that I thought played a really good hockey game today, say for maybe a few minutes in the second period we would have liked to have back", Woodcroft said.
"I thought we controlled the bulk of the play in both games."