McDavid enters history books, Skinner shines as Oilers top Kings 2-0
Stuart Skinner has further cemented himself as the Edmonton Oilers’ playoff goalie.
Skinner made 43 saves to collect Edmonton’s first shutout of the season and Connor McDavid scored his 300th career goal as the Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 on Thursday.
“I felt pretty good,” Skinner said. “I think confidence grows as the team is doing such a good job in front of me. I think for a full 60 minutes that we just battled hard. Being able to get the two points is massive.
“We were so hungry to win every battle and I think that was very impressive to watch.”
The only other time Skinner recorded an NHL shutout was last season against San Jose, but he was sent down to the AHL the following day.
“We're not going to do the same thing we did last year,” said Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft. “He's mature beyond his years. He came up with the big save at the right time.
"That team shoots from everywhere, they're volume shooters. But had some really good chances late in the third and Stuart was there."
Skinner started the season as the backup to Jack Campbell, who has struggled in the first of a five-year deal with the Oilers.
McDavid became the first player in NHL history to have five different 10-game point streaks in a single season, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record of four in the 1986-87 season.
The Oilers captain also became the fifth player in league history to reach 300 goals and 500 assists before playing 600 career games. Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Peter Statsny and Bryan Trottier are the others.
Evander Kane scored the other goal for Edmonton (44-23-9), which has won three in a row and gone 12-2-1 in March.
“It is one thing to talk about it, it is another thing to go out there and do it,” McDavid said of his team clamping down defensively. “We talk about being defensive and playing hard and I felt you saw that tonight.
"I still felt we gave up a few chances but (Skinner) was there to bail us out. It was a really good building block.”
The Oilers also moved ahead of the Kings for second place in the Pacific Division by one point.
Joonas Korpisalo made 35 saves for Los Angeles (43-22-10), which has lost two in a row on the heels of a franchise-high 12-game points streak.
“I thought it was a hell of a game, both teams played really hard and it came down to a bounce or a break or two and they were able to score,” said Kings head coach Todd McLellan. “We had some real good looks and we ran into a hot goaltender and didn’t quite get it over the goal line, but I thought it was a heck of game.”
Kane opened the scoring with just 52 seconds left in the first period. Leon Draisaitl made a beautiful behind-the-back spin pass to Kane, who was able to send a one-timer past Korpisalo for his 15th of the season.
Draisaitl picked up his 70th assist and extended his point scoring streak to 11 games on the play.
Skinner was later able to keep the Kings off the board midway through the second period, making a big glove save on Adrian Kempe’s breakaway backhand shot.
Edmonton outshot Los Angeles 27-24 through 40 minutes after a scoreless second period.
McDavid made it 2-0 at the 3:53 mark into the third period when he picked off a pass and sped away on a short-handed breakaway to score his 61st goal of the season. It was also his fourth short-handed goal of the campaign.
Skinner made huge saves on Vladislav Gavrikov and Viktor Arvidsson in the dying minutes and collected his 10th win in the month of March to set a franchise record for wins in a single month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
'Sophisticated' cyberattacks detected on B.C. government networks, premier says
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Canucks beat Oilers 5-4 in comeback to take Game 1
The Vancouver Canucks won the first game of their NHL playoffs series with the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 on Wednesday night coming back from a three-goal deficit.
Nijjar murder suspect says he had Canadian study permit in immigration firm's video
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.