In Edmonton, the Oilers’ Klim Kostin snapped a 2-2 tie with the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night to help send Edmonton to a 4-2 win in Game 2 of their nfirst round series with the Kings, and tie the series, 1-1.
“First of all, I was looking for [Draisaitl] actually, I was trying to get the puck in his hands,” Kostin said. “I trust him more than myself. But I just saw three guys around me and I had nothing I could do, so I just shot the puck and it went in.”
Stuart Skinner made 22 saves in the win.
Derek Ryan and Leon Draisaitl (power play) scored in the first period to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead.
The opening stanza was one the Kings would like to forget, Edmonton outshot LA, 11-3.
“I think it was pretty obvious,” LA’s Gabriel Vilardi said. “The first period, we can’t come out like that. It’s tough to climb back when you’re down 2-0. We fought back, but we weren’t able to come through.”
Draisaitl had two assist on the night.
“I think he’s been the best player on the ice through two games in the series by far,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. “He found a way to get things done in different ways, and it was a big reason we won the game tonight.”
The Kings rallied in the middle frame on goals from Phillip Danault and Vilardi to tie the game, 2-2.
“We had momentum in the second and third,” Danault said. ” … We didn’t panic, but we definitely need a better start. I thought the character was there again and we came back again.”
Evander Kane added an empty-net goal with less than a minute to go on the game clock.
“For us, we have a team that I thought played a really good hockey game today, say for maybe a few minutes in the second period we would have liked to have back,” Woodcroft said. “… I thought we controlled the bulk of the play, in both games.”
Joonas Korpisalo made 33 saves in the LA loss.
“We don’t want it to happen every game ” Draisaitl said. “But these situations happen in playoffs, the momentum swings seem to be a lot bigger, a lot more dramatic and up and down than in the regular season. … Get back out there and get back on our game and do it the right way.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.