November 16, 2022 by Ryan Lotsberg

The debut of their new Reverse Retro jersey didn’t go as the Edmonton Oilers had hoped. Trevor Moore’s hat trick led the Los Angeles Kings to a 3-1 win at Rogers Place.

This was the most physical and chippy game the Oilers have played this year. The Kings were content to sit back and let the Oilers come to them. They made life difficult for the Oilers in the neutral zone. The real story of this one was the Kings’s shot blocking. They blocked 29 shots. To put that into perspective, Cal Peterson made 31 saves. The Oilers made shot blocking pretty easy for the Kings, but the majority of the credit goes to the Kings for their commitment to blocking shots.

Call Outs:

Evan Bouchard’s first period is evidence that the Oilers made shot blocking easy for the Kings. Bouchard had ten shot attempts, seven of which were blocked. He was obliterating shin pads. I remember Bouchard’s ability to get shots through was a notable skill of his coming out of junior, but that clearly hasn’t translated to the NHL level yet. He needed to walk the line a lot more often. I don’t want to discourage him from shooting, but he needs to pick and choose his spots better than he did in the first period, and he needs to do better at changing the angle when he does shoot. The fact that he hasn’t scored yet has to be weighing on him. He needs to keep shooting, but he needs a bit more composure as well.

This was a rare night where Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl only combined for two shots. Credit to the Kings for their stingy defence, but the Oilers needed more of a contribution from their stars.

The game report says that the Oilers penalty kill was perfect, but the Kings scored seconds after a powerplay expired. That was basically a powerplay goal against. The “one per game” trend continued.

Standouts:

There weren’t many standouts in this one, so the lone goal scorer gets the nod. Zach Hyman fumbled a breakaway chance, but he finished on a partial breakaway after a turnover in the second period. He added a big hit on Drew Doughty as well.

Shout Outs:

The other big story from this game was Alex Edler’s knee on knee hit on McDavid. Darnell Nurse dropped the gloves with Edler after the hit. The Kings didn’t agree, but it was a dirty hit, and it was good to see Nurse step up there. I’ll forgive him for the penalty that negated the powerplay. I’ll also forgive McDavid for cross-checking Edler and negating a different powerplay later in the game. Good on McDavid for standing up for himself. He also landed a big hit shortly after his penalty expired, which triggered a sequence of events that led to Hyman’s goal.

Stuart Skinner made timely saves, most notably on Anze Kopitar. Kopitar had two breakaways, and Skinner stopped them both. The first came on the opening shift of the game, and the second came shortly after Hyman’s goal tied the game at one. He got a little lucky when Philip Danault hit the post from the top of the crease, but Skinner corralled the rebound.

Mattias Janmark had his skating legs in the third period. He streaked down the right wing and cut to the middle for a high quality chance early in the period. Later, he took the puck from end to end and got another great scoring chance. His line with Klim Kostin and Ryan McLeod was effective all night long. Kostin used his size well and often could be found in front of the net.

Ryan Murray made a nice pass to Hyman for the assist. He also broke up a scoring chance after a turnover behind the Oilers net. That’s a tidy showing for a veteran that has been a healthy scratch on many nights this season.

The Oilers will have another chance to gain some ground in the Pacific Division on Saturday night when they host the Vegas Golden Knights.