Kings Beat Oilers on Iafallo’s OT Power Play Goal

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What happens in the NHL regular-season has no bearing on what will occur in the postseason. That’s a popular refrain in the hockey world.

That was certainly true Monday night in Edmonton when the Los Angeles Kings rallied to beat the Oilers 4-3 on a power play goal by Alex Iafallo at 9:19 of overtime.

The Oilers are a trendy pick to win the Stanley Cup. They had closed out the regular-season with nine consecutive wins. That included two triumphs against the Kings. Edmonton allowed the Kings only one goal in those two victories.

Edmonton led 3-1 at 8:46 of the third period, but couldn’t lock it down defensively. The Kings tied it 3-3 on a power play goal by Anze Kopitar with 17 seconds remaining in regulation. The Kings had also pulled goalie Joonas Korpisalo for an extra attacker.

Kopitar was the Kings’ top star, finishing the game with a goal and three assists. Korpisalo finished with 38 saves against the high-powered Oilers offense.

Leon Draisaitl had two goals for Edmonton, but presumptive NHL MVP Connor McDavid had no points and was -2 on the game. He had five shots on goal. McDavid closed out the regular-season with a 16-game points streak.

In NHL history, teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-seven series win the series 68.4% of the time.

Iafallo scored the game-winner by converting Viktor Arvidsson’s pass from behind the net.

⭐️ The Minnesota Wild needed 51 saves from goalie Filip Gustavsson and a Ryan Hartman goal in the second overtime period to upset the Dallas Stars 3-2 in Game 1 of their playoff series. Gustavsson, making his first NHL playoff start, made 26 of his saves in overtime. Hartman scored at 12:20 of the second OT. Dallas player Joe Pavelski was knocked from the game in the second period by a heavy hit by Minnesota defenseman Matt Dumba. Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said Pavelski is OK, but was not confident Pavelski would be ready to play Game 2.

✌️ Captain Mark Stone will be back in the Vegas Golden Knights’ lineup tonight when they play the Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference first round. He missed 39 games this season after re-aggravating a back injury on Jan. 12 during a game against the Florida Panthers. He also missed 26 games because of a back injury the previous season. He has had two surgeries in the past 11 months. He had 38 points in 43 games before the injury. “Real important piece to our team, not only on the ice, but off the ice,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. Vegas defenseman Zach Whitecloud will also return for Game 1 after missing the end of the season with a lower body injury.

Who scored the Toronto’s game-winning (and series clinching) goal in game 7 vs. the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the 2004 playoffs?

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• Avalanche gear up for Stanley Cup repeat bid after overcoming injuries

• Rangers vs. Devils: Battle of the Hudson rivalry explained

• 'Pressure is a privilege': Leafs confident ahead of high-stakes series

• Ranking the top 50 players in the Stanley Cup playoffs

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• Treliving out as Flames general manager after 9 seasons

• Could the Senators trade DeBrincat this summer?

• ✌️ Ryan Hartman buries game winner in double OT

• 😱 Anze Kopitar ties it with 16.7 seconds left

• 🎯 Evan Bouchard snipes right under the bar with wicked wrister

• 💥 Marcus Foligno smokes Jason Robertson

• 💅 Matthew Tkachuk shows off beautiful hands in front

• Swedish 5-pass and shot drill

• Deceptive skating maneuver into soft touch and release sequence

TRIVIA ANSWER

Joe Nieuwendyk scored game-winning-goal of game 7 for the Leafs over the Senators in the 1st round of the 2004 playoffs.