GAME RECAP: Oilers 2, Kings 0

EDMONTON, AB - You won't see many goaltending performances better than the one Stuart Skinner treated the fans at Rogers Place to on Thursday night.
The Edmonton-born netminder made 43 stops for the first shutout of the season for the Edmonton Oilers in a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. The win was his 10th in the month of March, a new franchise record, and allowed the Oilers to jump the Kings into second place in the Pacific Division standings with a 44-23-9 record and 97 points.
"He was tremendous tonight," Mattias Ekholm said of his netminder post-game. "He was the best player on the ice, for sure. I thought we battled hard in front of him too, but when we really needed him, he came up with some huge stops at key moments in the game."
"I thought he was amazing," Connor McDavid added. "I thought he was really good, made some really big saves, especially during the second period. Coming down the stretch, they did a good job of pressing and they had a couple chances and he held us in."
McDavid scored a sensational breakaway marker for his 300th career NHL goal, while Evander Kane notched his 15th of the season and the game-winning goal for the second straight game late in the first period.
The Oilers will now take on the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night at Rogers Place before embarking on a four-game road trip through California and Colorado.

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FIRST BLOOD

Talk about ending the period with a bang.
For the most part, the first period between the Oilers and Kings was exactly what you would expect between two teams with both playoff history and playoff stakes on the line. The notoriously stingy Kings were able to nullify the Oilers offence for most of the period until a sublime pass by Leon Draisaitl changed Edmonton's fortunes.
The play was started on a quick transition by Kailer Yamamoto, who cut into LA's zone and laid the puck off to Draisaitl. The man who was voted the League's best passer by his peers handled the bobbling puck and spun a cross-ice backhand feed onto the stick of Kane, who quickly deposited the puck behind Joonas Korpisalo for his 15th goal of the season and the 301st of his career.
"That was nice. I mean, he's got a great way to find a guy," Stuart Skinner said about the goal. "He's one of the best at it in the league and in the world, so impressive pass, great goal and huge to get up one in the first period."
The 1-0 marker came in the period's final minute and gave the Oilers their first lead over the Kings this season after failing to have the advantage in 3-1 and 6-3 defeats from earlier in the campaign.

STU-D

In a game with a lot of solid Oilers performances, the night belonged to Skinner.
The netminder had the glove working overtime, flashing the leather in emphatic fashion on several occasions in the evening. Skinner's miracle moment came five minutes into the third period when a flurry of Kings opportunities came his way, but somehow, the Oilers crease guard made a diving stop in the blue paint to keep the puck from crossing the goal line.
The stop was one of 43 made on the evening by the local product for the first shutout by an Oiler this season, and the second of his career. The win was his 25th of the season, and unbelievably his 10th win in the month of March, setting a new franchise record for the Blue & Orange. The Oilers had been one of just three NHL teams without a shutout this season until Skinner's spectacular night.
In his previous appearance against the Kings, the goaltender was pulled after allowing three power-play goals on 24 shots. Although the goaltender swap was borne out of Head Coach Jay Woodcroft stirring the pot in search of momentum rather than Skinner's performance, there had to be an iota of vindication after what could be the best performance of the young goalie's career.
"He's technical. He's big. Sometimes, even if there's a bunch of traffic, he gets hit by the puck," Woodcroft said about his goalie. "He's in good spots. He relies on a solid foundation and he was excellent tonight. It's a big reason why we won the game; not the only reason, but a big reason."

SAVE OF THE GAME

At the 10:10 mark of the second, the Kings got their best chance of the hockey game when their leading goalscorer Adrian Kempe found some space alone on the breakaway. The 36-goal man hit Skinner with the forehand-to-backhand attempt, but Stu flashed his glove at the last moment to deny LA the equalizer midway through the contest.
"I think I gave him more (space to shoot), but he made a nice move and he actually beat me, but I was able to catch him on the glove," Skinner said about the stop. "He was a little bit upset about it, but I mean, I would have been upset if he scored."

The stop denied Kempe the opportunity to be the first Kings player to top 37 goals in a season since Zigmund Palffy accomplished the feat back in 2002-03. The Swede has been an entirely different player over the last two years, blossoming into a top-tier sniper. Kempe has scored 71 goals in the last two campaigns compared to only 55 combined goals in his previous five years.
Skinner's immense save overshadowed the stop made less than three minutes earlier by his cross-ice competitor Joonas Korpisalo, who robbed the Oilers of a 2-0 lead while on the power play. The Kings goaltender managed to kick out the pad on a trademark Draisaitl one-timer that seemed to be labelled for the back of the net, keeping the Oilers advantage at one.

TURNING POINT

The Kings were given a perfect opportunity to get themselves back in the game, finding themselves on the power play courtesy of a Nick Bjugstad trip on Blake Lizotte, but the Oilers captain decided to snatch the opportunity for himself.
Connor McDavid intercepted a Kings feed high up in the Oilers defensive zone and turned on the jets like only he can for the breakaway chance. Sitting on career goal 299, you just knew McDavid wasn't going to miss, getting Korpisalo to bite before ripping a blocker side shot for his 61st of the season and the 300th of his career.
The normally stoic captain let out an emphatic celebration shortly before 'MVP!' chants rained down from the Rogers Place faithful.

PLAYOFF PRIMED?

Evander Kane was a force all night for the Oilers, with and without the puck.
The 31-year-old gave Rogers Place a reminder of what playoff Evander is like, stuffing the stats sheet with a goal on five shots, while adding eight hits on the night.
Kane was a force to be reckoned with in his first postseason in Blue & Orange, scoring 13 times in just 15 games in last year's Western Conference Final run.
"I think he is rounding into form right now," Woodcroft said about Kane's performance. "He's always been known as a big game player, and these last two he's shown the level that he can play at. The good news is there are not a lot of miles on that chassis this year. He's just kind of rounding into form at the right time of year, and we need him."

PARTING WORDS

Skinner on what impressed him about the Oilers defensive performance:
"I think just our battles. We were so hungry to win every battle, and I think that was very impressive to watch. Just our guys fight for the puck, every single puck, every one-on-one battle, every scrum in front of the net, just everything. We did a great job boxing guys out. Great job coming back into the D-zone as forwards. Everyone was doing their part and doing their job. I believe that if we continue to do that, and we do that every game, we always have a chance to win for sure."
Skinner on the playoff feel of games down the stretch:
"I think every game, especially now with the last three weeks, is very important for us. Every single win is going to feel very good. We're fighting for playoffs, we're fighting for home advantage, we're fighting for a lot. We can look at that, but the big thing is just being able to go one game at a time. I thought we did a great job staying in the moment tonight."

Ekholm on the style of game the Oilers played tonight:
"I don't think anything's perfect in hockey, but close to it. I think this is the style that we are trending towards, knowing that we need to play in the playoffs. There's going to be games like this and 2-0, 1-0 win in the third. I don't know how many times I've said it, but it's going to happen. It's very nice to see us because it's not just the result. I think the way we played in the third was huge. I thought we defended really well. I thought we didn't give up a whole lot and that's obviously very encouraging."
Ekholm on McDavid's breakaway goal for 300 in his career:
"It's not just a breakaway. He dances around two guys, too, to get to the breakaway. So that's where he shows, where he's probably one of the few guys in the league that can do that -- and at that pace and at that speed. Three-hundred goals in the league already? It's crazy numbers, and you can see every night why that is."
McDavid on what he liked about the Oilers performance on Thursday night:
"I thought we were patient all game. We talk about that play in this group. It's going to be a patient game, and they like to make it tough, and obviously we're comfortable in these games. I think that was a real good message to send not only to them, but to everyone that we can play that patient game."
McDavid on playing the Kings and their style of game:
"Well, we know their style. They want to clog it up coming through the middle, and they want you to turn pucks over and feed their transition. They're really good. I don't think they got enough credit for how good they are offensively. They got some real good pieces over there, and they're really good off the rush as well. So you can't feed their transition and make their D turn and play that way."