You know the people who say, “Who cares if the playoffs are set up so Divisional opponents play each other more often?” Or, “We should just play one versus eight, two versus seven and so on?”
When next you meet one of them, refer them to the rivalry that has been built between these two Pacific Division rivals, the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings.
Edmonton eliminated the Kings in Round 1 each of the last two springs, and as Kings defenceman Drew Doughty admitted in his first intermission interview with Sportsnet’s Scott Oake, everyone on that L.A. roster spent their summer ruminating on that fact.
These Kings hate Edmonton the way the Calgary Flames did back in the ‘80s, and the only way for the Oilers to compete with L.A. — or those old Flames clubs — is to match that intensity.
And poof! A rivalry is born.
“They play a unique style of game,” explained Connor McDavid after the 600th game of his NHL career, “and when you’re not prepared to play that way it can make for a long night. We did a good job of not being denied, upping our work ethic — and we’re comfortable playing that game too.”
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So it was that, in their first meeting of the 2023-24 season, the Kings and Oilers went at it like the Oilers had in fact not won that crazy Game 6 down in L.A. eight months ago, and this was Game 7.
This was a playoff game played in December, a hard-hitting, cheap-shotting, bitterly fought, well-goaltended 3-2 hockey game, won in a shootout by the Oilers.
It was the most hotly contested hockey game these eyes have witnessed all season long, won in the end by a Derek Ryan shootout goal — just one day after his 37th birthday.
“I feel like I’ve got lots of birthday love,” beamed the old University of Alberta Golden Bear, a fourth-line, faceoff and checking specialist. “The guys have treated me well.”
When the shootout arrives for an Oilers head coach, the first three choices are easy: McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl. After that, head coach Kris Knoblauch — himself a former Golden Bear — leaned on his assistant coaches and went with the savvy vet Ryan.
“He made us look pretty smart,” said Knoblauch, who was asked what he likes about Ryan. “Well, I’m a little biased because of where he went to school… But the guys have a lot of respect for how he digs in, wins a lot of faceoffs, especially on the penalty kill. He’s not flashy – just a very smart hockey player. The kind of player that coaches really appreciate.”
“I was thrilled to see him score that goal. Thrilled,” said McDavid. “It was his birthday yesterday as well. Big 37. He brings it each and every day, and he’s a leader in this room, he really is. His voice carries a lot of weight.”
The Kings scored twice in Period 1, the Oilers answered with a pair in Period 2, and the third period and overtime were scoreless as Stu Skinner duelled Cam Talbot on a night where both were excellent. Skinner likely gets the nod as having made the most circus stops, and for keeping a runaway first period at 2-0 when it easily could have been three or four goals for L.A.
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“He gives us confidence,” said McDavid, who took this game over after the first 20 minutes. “(Skinner) gave us time to get ourselves into the game. When he’s playing like that, we know we can build a game.”
In his 600th game, McDavid banked his goal in brilliantly off of Talbot’s skull cap, and then made a lovely play to Draisaitl for a quick one-timer. He was the best player on the ice, capping his first 600 games averaging just a percentile shy of 1.5 points per game, with 897 points on 316 goals and 581 assists.
The only players in NHL history to have more points in their first 600 games are Wayne Gretzky (1,451), Mario Lemieux (1,215), Mike Bossy (921) and Peter Stastny (901).
“Any time you’re mentioned with those guys you’re doing something right,” he allowed. “It’s not lost on me what that means.”
This was the fourth win in a row for Edmonton, now 6-1 in its past seven road games. The Oilers are 14-6 under Knoblauch, with a plus-23 goals differential in 20 games.
They’ll play at Anaheim on New Year’s Eve in hopes of a perfect three-for-three road trip.
