EDMONTON, Canada — The streets of Edmonton were awash in blue and orange, the colors of the city’s hockey team, on Friday.
From the Southgate Centre, on the city’s southern edge, to the downtown financial district, it seemed as if everyone, from students and shopkeepers to cabbies and the cable guy, were wearing Oiler sweaters. And with reason: Their team, a Stanley Cup finalist a season ago, was fighting for its playoff life against a Kings team it had dispatched with ease each of the last three playoffs.
The Kings won the first two games in the best-of-seven series so Edmonton desperately needed a victory at home to get back in the series.