A monstrous game from Drew Doughty against the Oilers

The Los Angeles Kings picked up a vital 5-4 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 2 of the first round, and defenseman Drew Doughty was a big part of the win to tie up the series at 1-1. The Kings’ performance in the 7-4 loss in Game 1 did not sit well with the team’s captain.

“That was huge,” Drew Doughty said, via Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. “That felt so good. It was a little, I don’t know if ’embarrassing’ is the right word, but disappointing in the first game, getting smoked like that, and getting dominated. That was tough. … We all took it home with us. A lot of us were still talking about it the next day and even this morning. We were determined to come out and play a better game. Right from the puck drop, we were a much better team. Everybody contributed tonight. It was a team win.”

The veteran Doughty led all skaters with 29:07 minutes of ice time in the game, going up against Oilers superstar Connor McDavid, which is always a tall order for anyone. Connor McDavid was held to one assist in the game, which many teams would sign up for going into a game.

Doughty scored the third goal of the game for the Kings, which came at the end of the first period, right after the Oilers got on the board to cut Los Angeles’ lead to 2-1. Doughty’s goal put the Kings up 3-1 going into the first intermission. The Oilers eventually came back to tie the game at 3-3, but Doughty’s goal gave some breathing room at the time.

Kings following Drew Doughty’s lead

Doughty is in the later stages of his career, but was a huge part of the Kings winning their first two Stanley Cups in franchise history. To this day, the Kings are following his lead in the playoffs, even though he might not be in his prime anymore. Head coach Jim Hiller made that abundantly clear when speaking on the defenseman.

“He’s just such a big-game,” Jim Hiller said, via LeBrun. “You know his history. You know the Stanley Cups. You know the gold medals. … He’s just a guy you win with. Everybody who has ever played with him on all those teams just knows Drew, if it’s a big game, he’s going to be there. The organization is fortunate to have had him as long as they have and still be able to play at the level he’s playing at.”
The Kings will look to take a 2-1 lead on Friday with a win in Game 3 as the series shifts to Los Angeles. It will be interesting to see if Doughty could replicate his efforts from Game 2 to help the Kings pull an upset in this series.