Edmonton Oilers (P2) vs LA Kings (P3) | LAK lead 1-0

[NewtJorden]

Kings in 7

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

It's quite sad that one of these teams is going to get eliminated. Would like to see both play multiple rounds.

Tough to bet against the Oilers, has to be the most improved team in the league statistically since thanksgiving and winning 17 of their last 20 games means they don't have to spend any time finding their game. Also I think beating the Kings last year gives them confidence and takes away any potential surprise element.

Comes down to Kings goaltending for me. They need their season best goaltending from Korpisalo to win (assuming he's starting), let's see if he's up to the task. Played well against the Bolts in the bubble at least.

 

[BigKing]

But but Danault can shut down anyone lol , here come the excuses

Nobody can "shutdown" McDavid. That said, the Kings top two centers had these stat lines last year in the Edmonton series:

Danault: 5 points, +6 (Two goals on the PP so no + awarded).
Kopitar: 4 points, -6 (No PP goals).

Kings were outscored 27-17 for the series. Who was getting picked on? It wasn't Danault.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

It smells like one of those series where it may be a slight advantage for the underdog Kings to start on the road. If they take Game 1, it just puts a lot of pressure on Edmonton's weaknesses.

Game 1: Kings 3, Oilers 2 (OT)
Game 2: Oilers 7, Kings 3
Game 3: Kings 4, Oilers 2
Game 4: Kings 6, Oilers 5 (3 OT)
Game 5: Oilers 6, Kings 2
Game 6: Kings 3, Oilers 0

Cue 9000 threads about McDavid's wish to be in Toronto and whether Ken Holland did the right thing by signing Campbell and is Nurse overpaid

 

[BigKing]

Here’s the thing though. Oilers fans claimed the McDavid hit was nothing more than a 2 minute penalty and that it was proven because he didn’t get supplemental discipline. Well, Anderson also didn’t get supplemental discipline even though a “slewfoot” is suspendable. So maybe it wasn’t a slewfoot and just a guy taking down another guy in a wrestling match. Just because Anderson’s leg was behind Draisaitl, along with the rest of his body, doesn’t make it a slewfoot.

It wasn't an actual slewfoot. If there is no ankle injury, nobody is calling it a slewfoot.

Let's look at Hemsky pulling Simmonds out of this pile. Led to a knee injury to Simmonds. He jumps up and then lets all his body weight come down to pull Simmonds down from behind, bending Simmonds leg. It's far worse than the Anderson pull down but it isn't malicious just like Anderson's wasn't: it is just a guy trying to pull another guy out of a scrum. In 2022 and now 2023, anything that is a two minute minor for roughing is possibly an intent to injure penalty and not just two guys playing hockey.

 

[BlueSeal]

Oilers in six. Goaltending will tell the tale.

 

[PULSATING]

It wasn't an actual slewfoot. If there is no ankle injury, nobody is calling it a slewfoot.

Let's look at Hemsky pulling Simmonds out of this pile. Led to a knee injury to Simmonds. He jumps up and then lets all his body weight come down to pull Simmonds down from behind, bending Simmonds leg. It's far worse than the Anderson pull down but it isn't malicious just like Anderson's wasn't: it is just a guy trying to pull another guy out of a scrum. In 2022 and now 2023, anything that is a two minute minor for roughing is possibly an intent to injure penalty and not just two guys playing hockey.

Looks like Andersson's left leg pushes Draisaitl's right out from under him while he he pulls him down from behind, no?

 

[Bandit]

Last year the Kings didn't have their best defenseman, this year they don't have their top scorer. Pity. If the Oilers lose this series it will be quite the choke.

 

[AnInjuredJasonZucker]

Yes, noted bad boy Mikey Anderson, career rife with fines and suspensions, consciously injured Draisaitl in a scrum, and therefore deserved to be concussed by Mcdavid in a blatant boarding.

Good to see the Edmonton brain trust has been working overtime to figure this one out.

I think the karma discussion is stupid, but so is minimizing how reckless Anderson was by planting his leg behind Draisatl's and wrenching back like that. Of course he wasn't think "I'm gonna' sprain this guy's ankle", but it's absolutely a very bad play and should give pause to the canonization.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Looks like Andersson's left leg pushes Draisaitl's right out from under him while he he pulls him down from behind, no?

Anderson tries pulling Draisaitl back and starts to lose his balance. His legs go wide and they tumble down to the ice. He could have hurt himself just as easily on that play.

 

[Lt Dan]

Looks like Andersson's left leg pushes Draisaitl's right out from under him while he he pulls him down from behind, no?

No

 

[Bandit]

I think the karma discussion is stupid, but so is minimizing how reckless Anderson was by planting his leg behind Draisatl's and wrenching back like that. Of course he wasn't think "I'm gonna' sprain this guy's ankle", but it's absolutely a very bad play and should give pause to the canonization.

If you jump on the back of someone who's already engaged with another player, someone might jump on your back too.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I think the karma discussion is stupid, but so is minimizing how reckless Anderson was by planting his leg behind Draisatl's and wrenching back like that. Of course he wasn't think "I'm gonna' sprain this guy's ankle", but it's absolutely a very bad play and should give pause to the canonization.

Deranged.

It’s a scrum. Both players lost their balance and fell down. That’s it.

 

[Dust]

To me these are the two most complete Western Conference teams since the deadline. Both had holes and both did a really nice job filling them. Would have been a great 2nd or later round matchup, shame it's the 1st.

 

[Fourier]

The stats say that, yes. That's because a long series gets lots of roughing type calls in scrums after whistles. Those animosity type penalties skew the numbers. But I'm talking minor penalties here. I specifically said hooking and holding. LA will be disciplined, and won't give Edmonton as much PP time as they're used to, in my opinion.

And how are the Oilers the more experienced team? Doughty and Kopitar won 2 Cups together. Who has that kind of experience in Edmonton? Just because the Oilers went to the WCF last season? When a team needs to add experience they don't say "get me someone who lost in the conference final recently". They want Cup winners.

Last year the Oilers scored 7 pp goals in the 7 game series. It is true that the number of opportunities in that series was marginally less than they had in the regular season but only enough to result in one less pp every 8 games.

As far as experience is concerned LA does have Doughty and Kopitar but aside from Danault, Arvidson and Edler the rest of the skaters on the team have very little playoff experience The Oilers as a team have experience through most of their line-up. The only Oilers who have not played more playoff games than every one of the remaining King skaters are Skinner, Desharnais and Kostin. The Oilers defense in particular and their top 6 is much more experienced as a group than the Kings group.

 

[AnInjuredJasonZucker]

If you jump on the back of someone who's already engaged with another player, someone might jump on your back too.

Cool story. Does that mean planting your leg behind someone for a wrenching takedown is safe? Should this be the norm in every scrum?

 

[AnInjuredJasonZucker]

Deranged.

It’s a scrum. Both players lost their balance and fell down. That’s it.

One player lost their balance because the other pulled them down over a fulcrum. The pulling and the placement of the fulcrum were intentional.

Or yeah. Just the will of the Gods and poor Mikey had no role in it.

Re-read my post. It's pretty even-handed. I'm not attributing excessive malice to Anderson, while pointing out that he still acted recklessly. If that is deranged, then the internet is probably too much for you.

 

[Kingfan1967]

Season Penalty Minutes
One team has 706
The other 703

Yet according to "some" posters one team is clearly a much dirtier team right?

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

They gave up 4 fewer goals than the oilers this year.


Nurse played with a torn hip flexor.

And? Nurse is terrible

 

[PULSATING]

Anderson tries pulling Draisaitl back and starts to lose his balance. His legs go wide and they tumble down to the ice. He could have hurt himself just as easily on that play.

Thats one interpretation. I don’t think its clear cut either way.

 

[iCanada]

One player lost their balance because the other pulled them down over a fulcrum. The pulling and the placement of the fulcrum were intentional.

Or yeah. Just the will of the Gods and poor Mikey had no role in it.

Re-read my post. It's pretty even-handed. I'm not attributing excessive malice to Anderson, while pointing out that he still acted recklessly. If that is deranged, then the internet is probably too much for you.

It's fine, we've learned that wrestling moves away from the play are clean and fine. Kings fans would have no problem if we injured Doughty the exact same way.

 

[Bandit]

Cool story. Does that mean planting your leg behind someone for a wrenching takedown is safe? Should this be the norm in every scrum?

He didn’t “plant” anything. He literally fell over backwards with his leg between Draisaitl’s, off the ice no less. You’ll see what you want to though.

“Cool story” indeed.

 

[Kingspiracy]

I know that its poor form to wish injury on players but is it frowned upon to hope Mcdavid comes down with a bad case of the shits for a week or two?

 

[Bandit]

It's fine, we've learned that wrestling moves away from the play are clean and fine. Kings fans would have no problem if we injured Doughty the exact same way.

We’ve also learned that traveling distance to hit someone squarely between the numbers and cause a concussion that knocks a guy out for 5 games is perfectly fine too. I’m sure Oilers fans will be fine if “we” injured McDavid in the exact same way.

 

[Nasti]

Yes I wonder how many years Oilers fans would cry if Anderson did to McDavid what McDavid did to Anderson. Would rival Leafs fans still complaining about the Gretzky high stick on Gilmour.