The Edmonton Oilers skated into a sellout Staples Center Thursday night and owned a 2-0 lead after fifty minutes against league-leading L.A. The Kings rallied late in the third period to erase the deficit and send the tie game into overtime. Five minutes of sudden death failed to declare a winner and the contest went to the shootout. Former King and current Oilers defenseman, Lubomir Visnovsky, snapped Edmonton’s 11 game road skid with a tenth round game winning shootout goal. The marathon shootout ended on Visnovsky’s breakaway snot past Erik Ersberg to upend the Kings 3-2. Ersberg was starting Terry Murray for just the sixth time this season. The Kings usual goaltender, Jonathan Quick, did not play because of flulike symptoms. Ersberg made 21 stops in net. The Kings could have used Quick and his 12-4 shootout record Thursday night. It took the league’s worst club, Edmonton, to put an end to L.A.’s nine consecutive victories in games decided by shootouts. It was the Oilers first road win in two months.
The Kings have dropped two in a row after rolling off nine wins. Rich Clune made his NHL debut for L.A. The Kings took 43 shots on goal to the Oilers’ 23. L.A. was down by a pair of goals last night as the Oilers kept pace on the ice. Edmonton was impressive in penalty killing and limiting the Kings on the power play. Oilers goalie, Jeff Deslauriers made 41 saves in a tremendous road effort. L.A. attempted more shots on goal than Edmonton, but the Oilers secured the first one that counted in the second period. Denis Grebeshkov capitalized on a deflection off Matt Greene’s stick near the crease to tap in the first Edmonton goal. It was Grebeshkov’s sixth goal of the season and provided the Oilers a 1-0 edge. Dustin Penner fooled Ersberg in the opening of the third period to put the Oilers on top by two goals. Penner increased Edmonton’s edge with a sharp angle shot at 7:47 of the third, scoring on a power play wrister. It was Penner’s team leading 24th goal of the season. Four minutes later, the home team wiped away the gap altogether. L.A.’s comeback began with Dustin Brown’s desperation goal with 8:55 remaining in regulation. Brown got the Kings back within one by backhanding the puck through the posts and beyond Deslauriers’ reach. Ryan Smyth tied the score with an open net flick with under five minutes left. A scuffle broke out in the dying minutes of regulation, resulting in a four-on-four for two the final two minutes.
Overtime in L.A. almost didn’t occur. Patrick O’Sullivan was the sudden death star for Edmonton but Ersberg robbed the former King of a slick game winning shot. The Kings took the hapless Oilers to a franchise-record ten round shootout. Ersberg and Deslauriers frustrated the first shooters but pucks soon found the back of the net. Shawn Horcoff, Penner and Gilbert Brule scored in the shootout for Edmonton. Kings’ forward Anze Kopitar, Wayne Simmonds and Michal Handuz found the net and beat Deslauriers in the shootout. Simmonds nearly missed a goal in the first period off a Brad Richardson feed. The Kings outshot Edmonton 36-16 after the first period, but it was Deslauriers’ play that disrupted their demanding offense. Visnovsky drained the dramatic goal to seal the tenth round, and made Pat Quinn’s Oilers road victors for the first time since December 11th. The Kings were undeservedly booed by the home crowd.
Parting Points: Note to TMac: Please do not sign with the Knicks.
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