LOS ANGELES (AP) — For no less than one night time, the Los Angeles Kings acquired the momentum they had been searching for after a training change.
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David Rittich stopped 27 pictures for his first shutout in practically three years, Quinton Byfield had two targets and an help and the Kings beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 Saturday night time, giving Jim Hiller a victory in his first recreation as an NHL head coach.
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“This was a big win for us coming off the break and the coaching change,” mentioned Byfield, who has 4 targets and 4 assists in his final 4 video games.. “I think we all played for each other and had a lot of fun out there.”
Hiller was named interim coach for the remainder of the season after Todd McLellan was fired on Feb. 2. The Kings had solely three wins of their final 17 video games going into the All-Star break.
“We’ve had a tricky stretch, so we’re simply making an attempt to get again to the place we had been. This isn’t about essentially new. It’s simply getting again there, and tonight was a great step,” said Hiller, who is the first Kings coach to win his NHL debut via shutout since Andy Murray in 1999.
It was Rittich’s fifth career shutout, and his first since Feb. 22, 2021, at Toronto when he was with the Calgary Flames.
The closest the Oilers came to scoring on Rittich was midway through the second period when Corey Perry’s shot hit the crossbar.
“We’ve never lost faith or trust in ourselves. We know we have good players and we can win,” Rittich said. “I’m just trying to do my job, be in the right spot and be good.”
Pierre Luc-Dubois scored and Trevor Lewis had a goal for the second straight game for Los Angeles, which jumped to a 2-0 lead with goals in a 49-second span early in the second period.
Both of Byfield’s goals came in the third period. He put in a rebound at 7:06 and added an empty-net tally at 17:18. The Kings forward, who was the second overall pick in the 2020 draft, has 16 goals on the season.
Stuart Skinner made 22 saves for Edmonton, which has dropped two of three since a 16-game winning streak that was one shy of tying the NHL record.
“I think the first game against Vegas (on Tuesday) was probably our best game. We won the second game (Friday night at Anaheim). This was probably one of those games that we were finding ways to win during this streak and tonight there just wasn’t enough,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch mentioned.
Midway by a Kings energy play within the second interval, Dubois ripped a snap shot from the left faceoff circle that Skinner was unable to get his blocker on and went into the far facet of the online at 2:38. It was the eleventh purpose of the season and second previously 9 video games for Dubois, who was acquired in a commerce throughout the offseason and signed an eight-year, $68 million contract.
Lewis then acquired an ideal cross from Byfield and completed off a 2-on-1 rush with a wrist shot at 3:27 for his seventh.
UP NEXT
Oilers: Host Detroit on Tuesday.
Kings: Begin a four-game highway journey towards Buffalo on Tuesday.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Source: www.hindustantimes.com
