WATCH : Oilers spectacular fall to Kings in Game 1 stuns fans on social media, NHL Twitter reacts
Social media gets divided as Oilers fall to Kings in controversial penalties during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoff season.
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LA Kings win against Oilers [Image Credit: CTV Edmonton]
No one would have believed if they were told Edmonton Oilers will lose their first playoff round. Unfortunately, it did happen, as the mighty Oilers led by Connor McDavid fell to LA Kings in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup season. The Kings enjoyed de-crowning the Oilers with a record of 4-3.
Surprisingly, it was the Oilers with a 3-1 lead into the period when the Kings’ persistence into the final hours outclassed ‘The Chosen One’s team. The winning goal was fired by Kings’ forward Alex Iafallo. The game was plagued by controversial penalties which divided the NHL world into two.
Fans started debating the penalty the Oilers received during Game 1. Both Oilers Vincent Desharnais and Kings Blake Lizotte fell on the ice as they were chasing the puck along the boards. The NHL officials called for a penalty on Desharnais who seemingly fell on the ice seconds before the Kings forward did.
Edmonton Oilers fail to rise in Game 1 against Los Angeles Kings
![LA Kings win against Oilers [Image Credit: NHL]](https://firstsportz.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Untitled-design-11-28-1024x768.png)
Many fans believe the penalty call hyped the fading Kings into action leading to the OT victory. Kings captain Anze Kopitar played a pivotal role in the win of their team. He said, “Win Game No. 1. That’s all that counts.”
He further said that the team wasn’t down when the Oilers were leading 2-0 but instead, they kept their calm to strike when matters, “You’re down two and you can pretty much change the whole momentum of the game with the one shot”.
“Juice [Kempe] got us going and we were able to roll from there. Within a series like that you’re just trying to chip away and build whatever momentum you can build and it worked out for us.” “It’s just being smart and being disciplined and just go from there.”
Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner made his NHL playoff debut by stopping 31 shots on the net. According to Sportsnet, Leon Draisaitl said, “Got to be more mature than that”. “It’s a 3-1 game with eight minutes left or whatever. We’ve got to lock that down. We have to be more mature.”
Kings head coach Todd McLellan commented following their game, “We’ve played them enough to know that we can’t do that”. “Even when we were down by two, we couldn’t let it get to three. We had to check for our chances. Be patient.”
“Use the clock as much as we could. And it worked out in our favor.” Kings’ refusal to give in to pressure had a big hand in their colossal win against the Oilers. Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft noted, “We have a mature group. We’ve been through some battles here”.
“There are things that we did well, but in order to find a way to win, it’s got to be for the full 60 minutes.” This is just the start of the playoffs, more is left to be seen. While some say the Kings will cruise on their win, some are in favor of the Oilers bringing back their predator skills prior next match.
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Kaushani Chatterjee
(2165 Articles Published)