FINAL – Kings 0, Oilers 1 – Kopitar, Gavrikov, Hiller

The LA Kings dropped a tightly-contested, 1-0 decision against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday evening at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.

Neither team got on the board in the first period, with the Kings holding a 14-7 advantage in shots on goal. Forward Adrian Kempe had the best look of the opening 20 minutes for either side, getting his shot on net on a 2-on-1 rush, but Edmonton netminder Stuart Skinner sprawled to his left to make a glove save that kept the game 0-0 heading into the first intermission.

The Oilers opened the scoring in the final 90 seconds of the second period, converting in a 4-on-4 situation. Forward Leon Draisaitl won the race to a puck in transition, past Kings forward Trevor Moore, to establish control in the offensive end. One pass later, defenseman Darnell Nurse saw his shot saved by Kings netminder Darcy Kuemper, but the rebound went to forward Connor McDavid, who buried his 17th goal of the season for a 1-0 lead.

The third period also saw neither team find the back of the net, with Edmonton collecting 13 shots on goal, compared to 11 for the Kings. The Kings ultimately were unable to solve Stuart Skinner, who posted a 30-save shutout to earn the victory for the hosts.

Hear from forward Anze Kopitar, defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s game.

Anze Kopitar

Vladislav Gavrikov
On his takeaways from tonight’s game
That was a good game for us. We had our chances, so we just have to execute there and we’ll be fine. I think special teams were good. Overall, very good game.

On the team’s performance on the penalty kill
The past few games, we gave up a little bit, so that was nice to tighten up those details. We gave up a couple chances, but Darce made a few saves for us. He was solid.

On the team’s defensive play, but 1-2-0 record on this trip thus far
It’s just we’ve got to find a way to score the goals, I think. Like I said before, we had our chances, so we’re creating enough, I would say, to score a goal. We’ve just got to find a way and we’ll be fine.

On the chances the team had tonight, but not getting one to go
It’s hard to say. Sometimes, it’s going your way, sometimes not. We had a couple chances down low to try to jam the puck as well. You can’t say it’s probably Grade A, but it’s still a chance to score a goal, bever know what’s going to happen. Just got to put the puck on net and we’ll see.

On defending against Edmonton 4-on-4
It’s always tough. It’s a different game 4-on-4 a little bit, especially against those guys, same for overtime, 3-on-3, it’s more space, more speed. Plays got to be made, so you have to be patient and defend well.

Jim Hiller
On his impressions from tonight’s game
I thought the game in LA was good and so was this one. They were really good games, both one-goal games. Yeah, pretty good game.

On getting another strong, defensive performance but coming up on the wrong side
I wouldn’t call it frustrating. When your team plays hard like we have, three road games like that, 3-in-4 nights travel, playing hard, it’s harder to play defense than offense. Sometimes, you get offensively gifted players that make the game a little bit easier for themselves. We’re playing hard, we’ve had lots of chances, Calgary game and tonight. Can’t be frustrated with the guys for that, for not scoring.

On the chances the team got, but not being able to get one to go
Yeah, I mean, they’re not going in, for sure, but I don’t know. We’re playing good, we’ll be fine.

On the penalty kill tonight and the 4-on-4 situation
We did a really good job, that second kill was probably the best kill of the year. Yeah, that was good and again, game was good. Couple bad pitches, one really poor penalty by Laferriere, year, it was a really bad penalty, even though it got evened out. That was probably the moment in the game that I liked the least. Other than that, we played hard. [Reporter – Anything he can share on Laferriere not playing in the third period]. Nothing to share.

Notes –
• The Kings were shutout tonight for the second time this season (November 20, 1-0 vs. Buffalo)
• Forward Adrian Kempe tallied six shots on goal in tonight’s contest, tying a season-high set three times prior (Last: Dec. 14, 2024 at NYR).
• Goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves on 31 shots faced tonight, marking his sixth game with at least as many saves so far this season.

The Kings are scheduled to practice tomorrow afternoon at 12 PM Pacific at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.