The host Kings shut out the Oilers as Edmonton played without Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the team’s primary offensive catalysts and two of the National Hockey League’s best if not the best.
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said as much following the Saturday matinee affair at crypto.com Arena, giving kudos to the Kings’ five-man units and goaltending.
“They check very well,” Knoblauch told media after this team’s 3-0 loss. “Then when we do get a chance, (Darcy) Kemper is a good goalie and was able to put everything else aside.”
McDavid and Draisaitl have missed most of the Oilers’ games over the past three weeks. McDavid, the team’s captain and a three-time NHL most-valuable player, hasn’t played since March 20, when he suffered a lower-body injury against the Winnipeg Jets, missing the last seven games.
Draisaitl was lost to injury a game before that on March 18 against Utah but returned after missing four games to pace the Oilers to an overtime win over the Calgary Flames on March 29. The 2020 Hart Trophy winner as NHL MVP returned to the injured list the next game and has missed Edmonton’s last two games.
Both players are expected to be back in time for the NHL playoffs.
The thing is, the two teams are on a collision course to face each other in the first round of the NHL playoffs for the fourth year in a row. The Oilers (44-27-5 for 93 points) – who hold the third seed in the Pacific Division heading into Sunday’s NHL action and sit four points behind the second-place Kings (44-23-9, 97 points) – have won each time.
The Vegas Golden Knights sit in first in the Pacific (46-22-8, 100 points.
Each team has six games left on their regular-season schedules with the playoffs slated to begin April 19. The Oilers and Kings play one more time, April 14 in Edmonton, before the post-season begins.
Veteran Oilers forward Corey Perry said the Kings took away several second opportunities when the Oilers were on the attack.
“They box out well. They play hard in the (defensive) zone. They play man-on-man,” Perry said. “You’ve got to give them credit. ... In this league, good teams are going to play hard against everybody every night.”
Knoblauch offered that the Kings’ approach is “almost identical” to last year’s version that bowed out to the Oilers in five games but bemoaned the lack of chances for Edmonton on Saturday.
“We had some opportunities in the second period that we couldn’t capitalize, but no, chances weren’t (plentiful) tonight,” he said. “Even with everyone in our lineup, it’ll still be tough to generate chances just because of the way they play.”
The Kings outshot the Oilers 29-27, the totals evenly spread out over the game for both sides. Forward Viktor Arvidsson stuck out on the post-game stats sheet for Edmonton, registering four shots and three hits against his former club. Centre Adam Henrique blocked three shots for the Oilers, while Max Jones registered five hits.
L.A.’s top six forwards accounted for most of the offensive output, with Quinton Byfield, Alex Laferriere and Kevin Fiala firing four shots each, and Adrian Kempe three. Second-liner Fiala and top-line winger Andrei Kuzmenko each scored, while energy winger Trevor Lewis notched a goal as well.
The Oilers finish their four-game road trip through the western United States on Monday (8:30 p.m.) against the host Anaheim Ducks.
