March 28, 2017
The Kings lost yet another opportunity to make up ground in the Western Conference playoff race, losing 2-1 to the Oilers on Tuesday night in Edmonton. The loss meant the Oilers clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2005.
Cam Talbot made 34 saves. while Connor McDavid and Eric Gryba scored for Edmonton. The Kings’ goal came from Jerome Iginla. The Oilers have won 7 of their last 8 games.
Jonathan Quick made 27 saves for LA, but the Kings have lost four of their last five games. They trail St. Louis by 11 points with only 7 games left to play.
It looked like the Oilers scored 49 seconds into the game, but Oscar Klefbom’s goal was disallowed after the referee ruled that there was goaltender interference on the play.
However, McDavid would score later in the period when his pass deflected off of Derek Forbort and past Quick. It was his 27th goal of the season, and league-leading 89th point.
Iginla tied it up with 3 minutes left in the period, after firing a shot past Talbot on his glove side. The goal was his 4th in 12 games since being acquired by the Kings just prior to the trade deadline.
The Oilers would score the game-winner at 7:03 of the 2nd period when Gryba’s long shot deflected past Quick. The Kings even got a break when another Oiler goal was waived off when officials ruled they blew the whistle because of a delayed penalty prior to the puck entering the net.
The Kings had chances but couldn’t capitalize. Jeff Carter had an opportunity short-handed that was stopped by the pad of Talbot. “I thought I had some room low blocker. I think I just caught the top of his pad,” Carter said.
LA also had opportunities in the final minute, but Alec Martinez and Jake Muzzin were stopped by Talbot.
The Kings will try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive on Wednesday in Calgary. Anze Kopitar knows things aren’t looking good. “At the start of the year, I think if you looked at our roster, not a whole lot of people would have predicted that we’d be in the position we are right now,” Kopitar said.