EDMONTON — The Los Angeles Kings are one of those teams. Like the old Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils, or the Kings themselves, back when they were winning Stanley Cups.
If they get the lead on you, they are both dull and effective. Make them chase the game, and they’re out of their element — and usually far more exciting to watch.
“We know these guys well,” Connor McDavid said after a 3-1, empty-net-goal, low event loss to L.A. “That kind of game script fit right into their game — they score early and just kind of sit back and hold on.
“That’s the game they want to play. We knew that. They didn’t come out and surprise us with anything.”
No one is criticizing the Kings. They’re playing “dive on the grenade hockey” in November, and they’ve built a tidy five-point lead over the muddling Oilers in the Pacific Division standings.
It’s a low-event game like this one that has always been Edmonton’s Achilles heel, and one they’ll have to prevail in if they ever want to go from good to great. The difference in this one was Trevor Moore’s first career hat trick.
“It feels amazing,” Moore said. “Though, it is funny because it felt like I was fighting the puck a little bit out there.”
Los Angeles got the lead and then lined up on their blue line like all the Kings men. They played with structure and discipline, blocking 29 shots to Edmonton’s eight, and the Kings' defensive zone was a dying ground for Edmonton’s potent offence.
“Tight game,” observed Zach Hyman. “I mean, it was reminiscent of the playoffs last year where (there was) not much (room). We only got one power play, so it was tight in that regard, too.”
Edmonton is a team that will win more 4-3 games than it’s going to lose, but will face a litany of opponents who will try to get them out of their comfort zone and into a tight, 2-1, low event game. This game was played on the Kings’ terms, and fittingly, they walked out with the points.
“We went from shoddy in Calgary (6-5 loss) to committed,” said Kings head coach Todd McLellan. “It looked different and felt different. We played way closer to our identity, likely the way we have to play to beat teams like this and a lot of teams in the league. I am proud of the group.”
You’ll recall that these two teams met in a seven-game Round 1 series last spring, one that featured the commensurate amount of bad blood, cheap shots and violent behaviour befitting a playoff series that goes the distance. The Kings failed in two opportunities to close out the series, and Edmonton rode those wins in Games 6 and 7 to a Round. 2 win over Calgary and a playoff run that the likes of which they had not been on in ages.
On Wednesday the Kings came to town ahead of the Oilers in the standings, and with the goal of showing Edmonton that they weren’t in any way intimidated by an Oilers team that was predicted to be better than the Kings again this season.
There was plenty of physicality, including an Alex Edler knee on Connor McDavid that caught everyone’s attention
Edler widened his stance and caught McDavid, who was likely about to step around the defenceman’s check. McDavid went flying, and Edler was issued a kneeing penalty.
Darnell Nurse went after Edler immediately, but the Kings defenceman was fully protected by both linesmen, and Nurse was given a double-minor that erased the powerplay Edmonton would have had. That bit of work by the four officials basically gives Edler a free pass to stick a knee out on the opponent’s best player, something the ageing blueliner has done before.
“He did that hit to me a couple years ago — exact same play. I was out for two months,” Zach Hyman told Sportsnet in a walk-off interview after the second period. “He did it to Connor, same thing. It’s an extremely dangerous play.”
McDavid would not comment on the hit.
For the 10th time in 17 games, the Oilers failed to score first, and for the umpteenth time, they tip-toed into a game. Slow starts are a trend that predates head coach Jay Woodcroft, and is becoming a major personality wart for the Oilers.
“I think it's definitely something that we've talked about, starting on time,” said Hyman. “The shot clock can sometimes be deceiving, but when you're down 10-0 on the shot clock, whatever the case may be, it means that the other team's got the puck a lot.
“One thing we need to get better at is starting faster and that leads to getting the first goal, right?”
Vegas is in town Saturday. The muddling Oilers are in need of a better effort than we saw versus L.A.
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