EDMONTON – Captain Connor McDavid has led his team to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
McDavid had a goal and an assist as the Edmonton Oilers advanced with a harrowing 2-0 Game 7 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
“It feels good to do it that way,” McDavid said of the shutout. “There’s always a lot of talk about the defensive side of the game, so for our group to step up in a big moment and play like that in a 2-0 win with (goalkeeper Mike Smith) playing really well and the contributions everyone, it feels good.”
“But with that said, it’s only one round. There is a long way to go here. We are happy to go through to the second round, but that’s all we did, we survived one more day.”
Cody Ceci also scored and Mike Smith made 29 saves for his second shutout of the playoffs for the Oilers, who last won a Game 7 in 1998 and celebrated their first playoff series win since 2017.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a strong building and I’ve been in the playoffs a few times with some pretty wild moments, but it was awesome to be a part of that,” Smith said. “The last couple of years without fans has been shit, no one in the building was disappointing. Winning a Game 7 against the home fans who gave us a boost before the puck dropped, it was an amazing feeling and I hope it carries over into the next round.”
Jonathan Quick made 39 saves in a losing effort for the Kings, who haven’t won a playoff series since winning their second Stanley Cup in 2014, also the last year they won a series in a Game 7.
“Right now it’s very frustrating, obviously,” Kings veteran Anze Kopitar said. “This series was very close, we gave it our all and we should be proud of that. There is certainly an element of growth within the group, and throughout the season and during the playoffs. It didn’t work out today and it’s extremely frustrating because we came in here thinking we can do it and we didn’t.”
Kings coach Todd McLellan felt the experience was important, even if it’s hard to watch right now.
“I think they are a small picture, a big picture,” he said. “Small image, we are disappointed. We said all along that we were in this to win it, that we didn’t come here just to gain experience and when you’re all in and you want to win and you don’t, it’s disappointing. We were all-in and it hurts right now.”
There were no touchdowns in a tense opening period, with the Oilers putting up 10 shots on Quick in the Los Angeles net while the Kings sent seven off Edmonton starter Smith. Quick entered the game with a 4-0 career record in Game 7.
Edmonton came close to scoring midway through the second when a puck headed for the goal line in a scuffle, but Kings forward Andreas Athanasiou caught it just in time.
The Oilers finally broke the deadlock with 6:45 remaining in the second period when McDavid sent a pass from behind the net to Ceci, who fired a shot over Quick’s shoulder.
Edmonton came close to extending their lead a couple of times early in the third when Josh Archibald narrowly missed putting a puck into Quick’s legs and Kailer Yamamoto hit a post with most of the net open to shoot.
The Oilers finally clinched with 3:53 remaining in the third thanks to an excellent individual effort from McDavid, who pushed behind the net before sending his second backhand attempt into the net for his fourth goal and 14th playoff-leading point. in the league. McDavid had multi-point efforts in six of the seven games in the series.
The loss represented the final game for Kings star forward Dustin Brown, who announced this was his last season before the playoffs.
The Oilers will now advance to play the winner of the Calgary Flames/Dallas Stars series, which will be decided in a Game 7 of their own on Sunday.
Notes: Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse returned after serving a one-game suspension in Game 6 for headbutting Phillip Danault in Game 5… There was some concern after Oilers Leon Draisaitl and Brett Kulak missed morning skating, but both were able to play. leaving the Oilers with a healthy roster to choose from…The Kings were left without Viktor Arvidsson (lower body), Drew Doughty (wrist) and Sean Walker (knee)…There were no scoring changes in any of the series games, with the team that scored first winning each game.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on May 14, 2022.
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