April 23, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Edmonton Oilers took care of business by defeating the Los Angeles Kings 7-4 in game one of their first round playoff series on Monday night. The win was the first game one victory at home since 1990 for the Oilers, and they did it in convincing fashion.

Call Outs:

There wasn’t much to be upset about regarding the Oilers’ performance in game one. Cody Ceci’s stick disintegrated on him on the Kings’ fourth goal. He fell after his stick broke, and swatted the puck into the slot where Alex Laferriere was able to find Trevor Moore for an easy goal. Can’t blame a guy for his stick breaking! Darnell Nurse had a puck bounce in off his skate after a shot had bounced off of Ceci. Unlucky break.

As unlucky as some of the goals were, the Oilers will need to find a way to shut things down on the nights where they don’t score seven goals. That game got way closer than it needed to be.

Lastly, I’ll call out Moore for his low hit on Vincent Desharnais. Desharnais appeared to have hurt his knee on the play, but he thankfully returned to the game. It was a dangerous low hit by Moore. We will see if the league will review the play or not.

Trevor Moore goes low on Vincent Desharnais 😳🫣#NHL | #GoKingsGo | #LetsGoOilers
pic.twitter.com/ACr3J4wScX

— The Cam & Strick Podcast (@CamandStrick) April 23, 2024

Stand Outs:

Familiar names are going to litter this section. Zach Hyman continued his assault on the back of the net with a hat trick in game one. He missed an open net early in the game, and was foiled by Cam Talbot on a breakaway as well.

Evan Bouchard had four assists. Jason Gregor shared a post on X after the game which said that Bouchard now has 30 points in 29 playoff games. Only five defencemen have ever had more points in their first 30 playoff games. He will have a chance to climb the list in game two on Wednesday night.

Oh yeah, and that Connor McDavid guy had five assists. The highlight was an unbelievable spin move that preceded an assist on the opening goal of the game. He also made a patient play behind the net to wait before dashing into the slot to find Hyman for another goal.

Shout Outs:

Adam Henrique scored the second Oilers goal. His last playoff goal came all the way back in the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals, ironically enough against the Kings. The near twelve year drought is the longest gap between playoff goals for any player all-time. Henrique also added an assist for good measure.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist as well. Evander Kane didn’t register a point, but he was quite noticeable all night long. He had six shots on goal, which was second behind Hyman’s nine. Warren Foegele scored an empty goal and had five shots on goal.

Vincent Desharnais was excellent in this game. He had five shot blocks and six hits. Desharnais also played on after taking that low hit from Moore. Most importantly, he wasn’t on the ice for any of the goals against. That’s exactly what Desharnais needs to do to help this team win hockey games.

Recent: Oilers vs Kings: Series Preview

That’s pretty much how the Oilers would draw up a game plan for the Kings. The Kings made it closer than it needed to be, but the Kings never really seemed to be in that game. The Oilers got in on the forecheck and won races to loose pucks, they were able to hem the Kings in their own end for long periods of time, and they didn’t give up many quality chances in their own zone. The goals that the Kings got were either from outside shots or unlucky breaks and bounces. The Oilers would take another three games like that in a heart beat.

Game two of this series goes Wednesday night at Rogers Place.