Tag: Los Angeles Kings

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A closer look at Stuart Skinner’s ‘big mistake’ in Game 6.

Andy Devlin/NHLI/Getty

The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but it was probably a lot closer than the Oilers would have liked.

Although the game was back and forth with a solid effort from both teams on the ice, it would be a catastrophic mistake from Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner that would keep the Kings close late in the game. That mistake from Skinner was a routine clearing attempt that went horribly wrong and resulted in a goal for the Kings.

First let’s take a look at the play in real time:

This clearly looked like a horrific play on the part of Skinner, but thanks to one sharp-eyed observer watching on Saturday night we now know that it was nothing of the sort. 

Kevin Woodley, who deserves all the credit in the world for noticing this, was quick to notice upon zooming in on the play that Skinner’s stick had actually broken on the play.

Here’s another look in slow motion:

Another sharp-eyed observer in Derek Schlereth noticed that the stick had actually been broken by a Kings player, Adrian Kempe to be exact.

So while Stuart Skinner was catching plenty of heat for his ‘big mistake’ it turns out it wasn’t a mistake at all, but just a very unfortunate series of events.

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Latest video of Connor McDavid worries Oilers fans

The Guardian

Edmonton Oilers superstar captain Connor McDavid, who has eight points in the five games played so far in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings, doesn’t appear to be completely healthy in a recently released video of him in practice. 

As everyone knows, the postseason can bring considerable wear and tear on an athlete’s body, and typically after a series is over, the full truth comes out about the extent of injuries they were playing through – and the reports are often astonishing. 

For McDavid, he was seen noticeably laboring during practice with what looks to be a lower body ailment:

Take a look at this theory from Will Naut on Twitter: 

“I would think this relates back to the big hit he took from Doughty in Game 3. Broadcast showed him shaking off the left leg multiple times after the collision. Two-day break obviously doesn’t hurt but would think you want to wrap it up Saturday and avoid a G7 for some more rest.”

Here is the hit in question from Game 3, a Kings overtime win that at the time gave them the series advantage prior to the Oilers winning the next two: 

Game 6 between the two teams is Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. Can the Kings force a Game 7 back at Rogers Place? 

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Zach Hyman describes goal scored off his face

The New York Post

The Edmonton Oilers took care of their business at home at Rogers Place last night, defeating the Los Angeles Kings by a 6-3 final score and setting themselves up to advance to Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs when they meet again in Game 6 Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena. 

And among the six pucks that the Oilers deposited into the Los Angeles net included one particularly painful and unique goal that would be credited to Edmonton forward Zach Hyman. He deflected a shot from defenseman Evan Bouchard past goaltender Pheonix Copley literally with his face.

The good news for the Oilers is that not only the goal count, but Hyman himself was no worse for wear. 

“I just kinda turned into it,” Hyman said afterward. “A little abrasion here. Just went with the punch, took it on the chin.”

And while it felt good to contribute on the scoreboard, it didn’t exactly feel good having a slap shot catch him right below the mouth. 

“It happened too quick, to be honest,” he said. “Luckily, Bouch didn’t get all of it and if he had got all of it, it probably wouldn’t have gone where it went, so … I’ll take that trade-off any day for a goal.

“Obviously, I felt it. I’ve had a few go off different parts of the body, but I think that’s the first one off the face, though … But you’ve got to get to that area, and when you do, pucks hit you. You find rebounds. Score dirty goals. That’s how you score in playoffs. You get a pretty goal here and there, but a lot of it is going to tough areas and finding loose change — and sometimes, it hits you in the face. Good bounce for us.”

Hyman already came through in a major way for the Oilers earlier in the series, scoring the overtime winner in Game 4 in Los Angeles to knot things up at two games apiece.

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Oilers officially decide on starter for Game 5

CTV News

The Edmonton Oilers were able to wrestle victory away from the jaws of defeat on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Kings, coming back from 0-3 and 3-4 deficits thanks to the game-tying tally from Evander Kane and subsequent overtime winner from Zach Hyman. The series is now a best-of-3, with Game 5 heading back to Rogers Place in Edmonton later tonight..

Earlier this afternoon, the Oilers announced that they’ll be going right back to goaltender Stuart Skinner between the pipes, despite his having been pulled in Game 4 in favor of Jack Campbell. 

“Stuart’s been our starting goaltender here the second half of the year, he’s played great and we expect a great game out of him today,” head coach Jay Woodcroft said.

“I start with the basis of understanding that we have two really good goaltenders, and that’s a luxury for a head coach to have,” he continued. “In the end, it’s the head coach’s decision.”

Skinner was sure to give a tip of the cap to Campbell for helping earn the victory in Game 4.

“He went in there cold, and I apologized to Jack for doing that to him,” said Skinner of Campbell. “You never get put into a great spot when you go in cold. He did a great job.”

“Unbelievable. He was stellar,” Skinner continued. “He made a huge, huge breakaway save (on Viktor Arvidsson with 5:46 to play), and after that we ended up scoring (to tie the game), and won it in overtime. You could say that stop won us the game.”

Skinner will be looking to improve his postseason numbers, which include a 1-2 record combined with a pedestrian 3.39 goals against average and .881 save percentage. Tonight’s Game 5 will begin at 9:30 PM EST. 

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Edmonton’s Zach Hyman scores a goal with his face

Twitter

Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman certainly knows a thing or two about scoring goals. After all, not only did he light the lamp 36 times during the regular season, but he also tallied the game-winning goal in overtime in Game 4 of his team’s Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Los Angeles Kings to knot things up at two games apiece. 

But tonight, Hyman achieved a career first – scoring a goal literally off his face. He deflected defenseman Evan Bouchard’s shot right off the grill and into the net past goaltender Pheonix Copley: 

The bounces are sure going Edmonton’s way tonight at Rogers Place as they try to take a three games to two series lead! 

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Evander Kane makes shocking allegation against a Kings fan

CBS Sports

Controversial NHL forward Evander Kane has shown a knack for scoring clutch goals in the postseason since joining the Edmonton Oilers last season. He would come through in the clutch once again in Game 4 of their opening round Stanley Cup Playoffs series against the Los Angeles Kings, tying the game at four late in the third period; Edmonton would go on to win in overtime and knot the series at two games apiece. 

Earlier this season, Kane would befriend a young Oilers fan named Cecily Eklund who is battling brain cancer: 

She was also a special guest of Kane’s for Game 3 of the series in Los Angeles. However, Kane has made a stunning allegation against a particular Kings fan, claiming that the young girl was subject to harassment and was even spat upon. He wrote on social media:

“simply_cecily_rose got to go on an amazing road trip to LA last week that created some incredibly fun memories. But some of her experience in LA specifically at Game 3 of the game was not. I’m disgusted and appalled at what happened to this amazing little girl in the stands and in a women’s restroom where she was harassed for wearing her jersey and was spit upon by an LA fan for doing so. This type of behavior is gross and completely unacceptable. For any young girl especially someone battling brain cancer to be treated in such a manner is pathetic. Grow up and as this smart young lady always says BE KIND!”

Kane would then show a particularly classless screenshot of a response from someone on Instagram: 


If the allegation from Kane is true, then it absolutely was a classless and truly disgusting action from that particular fan. Harassing a young fan and spitting on them is unconscionable, and certainly not a representation of Kings and hockey fans as a whole. 

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Rumblings of a huge return for the Kings in Game 4.

Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune

The Los Angeles Kings have already taken a 2-1 lead over the Edmonton Oilers in their opening round Stanley Cup playoff series, and now to make matters even worse for the Oilers it sounds like reinforcements may be on the way for the Kings.

Although there has been no official announcement regarding his status at this time, signs are pointing to the fact that Kings forward Kevin Fiala may be set to make his return from a lower body injury that has kept him out of the series thus far.

Fiala was on the ice for the Kings’ morning skate on Sunday and was in a red no-contact jersey, but indications are he will skate in warmups before tonight’s Game 4. That likely means that Fiala is a gametime decision, but either way this is a sign that he is extremely close to a return to the lineup.

Fiala was an effective offensive player for the Kings during the regular season, appearing in 69 games and recording 23 goals while adding 49 assists for a total of 72 points over that stretch of play. His return would be a big boost to the Kings offense, and would come at a time when the Oilers desperately need a win to even up the series again.

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Jay Woodcroft sounds off the NHL’s controversial goal call.

The Stanley Cup playoffs were marred by controversy on Friday night, and although the final decision has already been made and there will be no changing the past now, we probably aren’t done hearing about this particular call for a while.

On Friday night, the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings clashed in Game 3 of their first round Stanley Cup playoff series and the game would end in controversy after an overtime goal courtesy of the Kings’ Trevor Moore. There was no doubt that Moore scored the goal, but several slow motion and close up replays appear to indicate that a stoppage in play had been warranted prior to him scoring the goal.

The end result though was the NHL ruling this a good goal, something the Oilers obviously do not agree with. Following the conclusion of the game, Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft was asked to share his thoughts on the controversy and he made it pretty clear how he felt. Although not one to ever stir the pot, Woodcroft made it clear that he felt the league had made the wrong call.

“It’s a play where the greatest player in the world is two feet away,” said Woodcroft. “His arm comes straight up in the air because he knows it hit the stick, otherwise he wouldn’t put his arm up in the air… he would keep playing.”

Woodcroft also pointed to the slow motion replays that appear to indicate that there was indeed a high stick that should have stopped the play.

“It appears to me in the video that the puck is going straight up in a trajectory and deadens, in the end I’m going to go with the greatest player in the world who was three feet away,” concluded Woodcroft

The player being referenced here is of course Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid and judging by Woodcroft’s comments it would stand to reason that McDavid himself, and likely the rest of the Oilers lock room. isn’t too happy about this call either. 

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Major officiating controversy in the Stanley Cup playoffs on Friday night.

The National Hockey League has a major controversy on their hands stemming from a call made during Friday night’s game between the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers, and it is one that could potentially play a pivotal role in determining who advances in the first round of that series.

On Friday night, the Oilers and Kings, who were already tied up at 1-1 on the series coming into this one, battled it out in a hard fought game that needed overtime to determine a winner. The game winning goal would come on a Kings powerplay just minutes into the overtime frame when Trevor Moore managed to beat Jeff Skinner to give the Kings a 2-1 lead in the series.

Here’s a replay of Moore’s game winning goal:

If you’re thinking that Moore’s goal doesn’t look all that controversial you would be right, there’s no doubt that the puck crossed the goal line and there’s not much of a case to be made for goaltender interference. The issue isn’t with the goal itself but with a high stick that occurred only moments before, one that the Oilers feel should have resulted in a stoppage of play.

The alleged high stick in question came from the Kings’ Gabe Vilardi, and here’s a look at the replay as shown on the broadcast last night:

The NHL’s situation room in Toronto would take several looks at the play but, according to several NHL insiders, the league would determine that there were no camera angles that showed Vilardi had conclusively touched the puck.

The league’s ruling has been called into question with some arguing that the replay does show conclusive contact between stick and puck, arguing that the momentum of both shifted at the moment of contact. When viewed in slow motion, Vilardi does appear to look up after the puck makes contact with his stick. If the player felt that contact and reacted by looking up, it would lend credence to the argument that contact was made.

A close up of this same replay also appears to show the shift in momentum from both puck and stick.

Whether the NHL got this one right or wrong won’t change anything now for either the Kings or the Oilers, but it will certainly be discussed at great length should the Kings emerge victorious in this series.

Did the NHL make the right call on Friday night? Or could this prove to be a series defining mistake from the league?

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Stuart Skinner sets Oilers mark not seen since 1982

NHLPA

The Edmonton Oilers were able to get back on track after their stunning overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of their first round Stanley Cup postseason series, rebounding with a 4-2 win to knot things up at 1-1 before the two teams shift to Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. 

And rookie goaltender Stuart Skinner has once again found himself in the team record books. Not only did he overtake team legend Grant Fuhr’s Edmonton Oilers rookie record for wins during the regular season, but thanks to his win in last night’s Game 2, he also became the 1st Oilers rookie since Fuhr himself to win a postseason contest. 

“Huge props for the guys in front of me, the job they were doing,” said Skinner of his teammates. “They did have time in the zone but to not get shots, the guys were blocking them, battling in the corners, in front. They made my job very easy in the first 18 minutes.”

For Skinner, he knows how to bounce back from a disappointing loss, and he gave a first hand demonstration