Oilers wrap up road trip against LA Kings

Edmonton Oilers vs Los Angeles Kings 3-2 (1-0, 2-1, 0-1)

The Oilers met a lower-than-playoff ranked team for the first time in weeks, the LA Kings were by far the worst team in the Western Conference coming into this one. They had a mere 23 points and held an abysmal 9-28-5 record half-way through the season.

Edmonton lost speedy forward Andrew Cogliano to injury early in the first period, but the increased minutes that meant for forwards Brule and O'Marra seemed to spur them on to better performances. The Oilers remained in control, though Smyth, Kopitar and Frolov posed problems on odd occasions. Ladislav Smid took a slapshot from just inside the blueline that found its way past Quick to give the home side the lead just before the break.

Dustin Penner added to that by scoring from a poorly controlled rebound. Edmonton was rolling, pushing for more goals, and got one from Krysanov's fine wristed finish on a 2 on 1. Former Oilers hero Ryan Smyth narrowed the gap to two just a few minutes later, assisted nicely by Frolov, who had to thread the needle to find Smyth at the back door.

The Oilers had a hard time winning faceoffs against a resilient Kings centerline, which led to Scuderi being allowed to score, after Stoll had drawn and won a faceoff. "The idea of an election is much more interesting to me than the election itself...The act of voting is in itself the defining moment" said Jeff Melvoin. This game had no election, but a clear defining moment, when Nikolai Khabibulin threw himself across the crease to stop Handzus from levelling the score late on.

Post game: The Oilers were not necessarily deserved winners, as Khabibulin had stopped 30 shots, while Quick was tested a mere 19 times, three of which went by him. Nevertheless, Edmonton's forwards did a good job taking quality shots, not just throwing the puck at net on every occasion.


Scoreboard
1st Period:
EDM - Smid (Gilbert) PP

2nd Period:
EDM - Penner (Gagner, Hemsky)
EDM - Krysanov (O'Marra, Gilbert)
LAK - Smyth (Frolov, Handzus)

3rd Period:
LAK - Scuderi (Stoll)


Injuries/Misconducts/Etc.
Andrew Cogliano (First period)


Lines:
Penner - Gagner - Hemsky
Cogliano - Laich - O'Sullivan
Moore - Krysanov - Brule
Moreau - Falardeau - O'Marra

Babchuk - Visnovsky
Smid - Gilbert
Grebeshkov - Yonkman

Khabibulin
(Hiller)