Los Angeles Kings continue with a shortened bench
One of the reasons for their third period struggle might be due to the fact that the Los Angeles Kings have elected to go with a much smaller rotation in these games and that was exemplified in Game 3.
Among the forwards, the Kings essentially went with only three forward lines as Samuel Helenius, Trevor Lewis and Jeff Malott played under five minutes in Game 3. Among the defensemen, the Kings relied heavily on Mikey Anderson and Drew Doughty as both were over 26 minutes while Brandt Clarke had only 11:34 of ice time and Jordan Spence barely saw the ice at only 2:55.
One of the strengths for the Kings entering this series, or why this series was going to be different than the prior three years, was the depth the team had. However, by going with these smaller rotations the Kings are taking away that advantage and it could be having an impact in the third period as the Oilers appear fresher.