*Photo from the Red Deer Advocate*
Edmonton wins series 4-2
Just like last year, the same team moved on. Klim Kostin had two goals and an assist, Kailer Yamamoto scored the winning goal, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 5-4 on Saturday in Los Angeles.
In their series last season, the Oilers knocked out the Kings in 7 games in the first round. In their rematch this season, the Oilers only needed 6 games to advance to round two. It was the contributions from Kostin and Yamamoto that got it done in this game.
Edmonton captain Connor McDavid said of the team that "I think a lot of people look at the Oilers and think it's a two or three-man team. Couldn't be further from that at all. Up and down the lineup we got contributions. That's what playoff hockey is all about, and it's a good sign for our group."
McDavid started the scoring right away, giving the Oilers the lead just 1:25 into the game. Sean Durzi found the equalizer 8:13 into play, tying the game 1-1 with assists from Kevin Fiala and Quinton Byfield. That left Kostin to score at the 12:12 mark of the first, giving the Oilers a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.
Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring in the second period with a power play goal 4:06 in. Adrian Kempe and Fiala both scored power play goals for the Kings after that, tying the score 3-3. Kostin delivered again for the Oilers, making it 4-3 after two periods with his second goal of the night, assisted by Yamamoto and Vincent Desharnais.
While shorthanded 7:46 into the 3rd period, Phillip Danault scored for the Kings, tying the game 4-4 on his second goal of the series, coming unassisted. With the game still tied and 3:03 left on the clock, Yamamoto scored to give the Oilers a 5-4 lead, assisted by Kostin and Ryan McLeod on the game winning goal.
McDavid said after the game that "It's good that we've been in that situation before where a weird one goes in. It kind of feels funny that the game is tied, you didn't really do anything wrong, but it was a tough break. Then the little guy steps up here, and it's a credit to those guys."
Getting the start for the Oilers in net was Stuart Skinner, who played well enough to keep the Oilers in the game. Skinner made 40 saves out of the 44 shots he saw from the Kings, which was good for a .909 save percentage.
In net for the Kings as their season came to an end was Joonas Korpisalo, who couldn't will the Kings to a win. Korpisalo stopped 21 out of the 26 shots on goal that the Oilers had, giving him a .808 save percentage in the loss.
Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said of the loss that "We gave up too many chances. I mean, Korpi had to make a lot of big saves, in the first especially. The playoffs isn’t always about who dominates the game. It’s about who has the hotter goalie a lot of times and whoever gets the bounces. And unfortunately, we didn’t get them tonight."
Up next, the Oilers get set to take on their Pacific Division rivals, the Vegas Golden Knights, in the second round. The Kings have the offseason ahead of them, planning to make a run again next year.
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