LA Kings beat Oilers 5-2 in Farewell Game at Rexall Place
- Updated: December 30, 2015
The memories the Los Angeles Kings have playing against the Edmonton Oilers at the historical Rexall Place are endless. Most remember (as they should) the “Miracle on Manchester” comeback the Kings made against the Wayne Gretzky led Oilers way back in the 1982 playoffs. We all know that that game took place in Los Angeles (*cough* Inglewood *cough*) at the “Great Western” Forum but what many people forget is that that game was only the third game of the series! After losing Game 4 to the Oilers at home, the Kings still had another game to go to settle things. The decisive game 5 (back then the first round of the playoffs was a best of 5) was played in Edmonton and settle things was exactly what the Kings did by beating the Oilers in this same Rexall Place (then Northlands Coliseum) 7-4 to win the playoff series (and shock the World) in 5 games.
These two old Smythe Division rivals would battle again in this same building in 1987 but this time with a different result as the Oilers beat the Kings in a tight 5-4 game to eliminate them in Game 5, (this is the playoff series that inspired me to become a Kings fan!). Who could forget what also happened there during the 1988-89 season when Wayne Gretzky returned to Edmonton but now as a division rival LA King as they battled the Oilers again in the playoffs! Down 3-2 in the series and with their backs up against the wall, the Kings survived and beat the Oilers 4-1 in game 6 at the Northlands Coliseum to keep them alive and take game 7 and the series by eliminating the defending Stanley Cup Champion Oilers in Los Angeles!
Then how about when Gretzky returned to Edmonton again later that October and broke Gordie Howe‘s all time points record of 1,850 points, right there against his old team and building! (Who writes this stuff???!!!) To add a cherry to that Hall of Fame cake, Gretzky also scored the game winner in overtime for the Kings! I still get goosebumps at the class the Edmonton Oilers’ faithful had and showed when they gave their former son a rousing standing ovation for breaking the record, even though he was now playing on the opposing team and had just scored on them. Salute!
Oh yes, the Kings and the Oilers have fought many memorable bloody wars in that arena and I have to admit, I am honestly getting a little choked up when thinking and writing about how this is going to be it’s last season ever in service, (as the Oilers are moving downtown to the newly built (and modern) Rogers Place), and how this is officially (unless the Oilers pull a miracle and face the Kings in the playoffs) the last game ever played there by these two teams in between those hallowed walls. The LA Kings have a lifetime of both wonderful and horrible memories (and I’m purposely erasing the horrible memories of the terrible playoff games there in 1990 and 1992, as well as the heartbreaking overtime series loss in 1991 and Nail Yakupov‘s first ever NHL goal and his unnecessary cross ice celebration slide in 2013) there as this is a sad day indeed … but I quickly (not Jonathan) got over it because in their final farewell to this historic arena, the Kings created one more wonderful memory (and added a few more personal records) by beating the Edmonton Oilers soundly, 5-2! (All’s well that end’s well!)
The Kings were coming off a dominant victory (as covered by my colleague Emily Redenbach) over the Vancouver Canucks the night before where Tyler Toffoli had a hat-trick, Anze Kopitar had 4 assists (which is very Gretzky like), Derek Forbort scored his first ever NHL goal (and did not do a cross ice celebration slide, YEAH I’M POINTING AT YOU YAKUPOV!), and Jonathan Quick posted his 40th career regular season shutout, tying him with fellow U.S. goaltenders John Vanbiesbrouck (retired) and Frank Brimsek (deceased Hall of Famer) for first place for the most all time career shutouts by an American born player! All indications pointed that reliable backup Jhonas Enroth was going to get the start against the Oilers but coach Darryl Sutter decided to keep the red hot Quick in instead. If Quick was fatigued from playing the night before, he didn’t show it when just :35 seconds into this game he robbed Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl with a spectacular right pad save! If Quick wasn’t tired, then his teammates were (at least at first) and the Oilers tried to take full advantage of it by using their speed to disorganize the Kings defensively. Luckily Quick was up to the task (again and again) and held the fort.
The Kings came close to take the lead when Captain Dustin Brown was set up perfectly for a one timer but hit the post instead. It wouldn’t be a proper Kings vs Oilers game if there wasn’t any fireworks and we got some when Milan Lucic crushed Lauri Korpikoski with a massive hit (who to his credit, was trying to absorb Lucic’s hit but miscalculated the beast that “Looch” is), which led to Oiler teammate Darnell Nurse to admirably stick up for him. After an exchange of (recipes) heated words, Lucic and Nurse threw off their gloves and fought but it was a one sided affair and victory for the much stronger Lucic. The period ended with no score but not before an incident occurred when Brown was accidentally high sticked in the face and had to leave the bench for the dressing room to be treated. Luckily for him, he was able to return with just a bloody nose but unluckily for the Oilers, the dragon (or the Force) was awakened.
Thanks to Dustin Brown and Trevor Lewis, the returning from injury (that made him miss the entire season up to this point) Dwight King scored from a sharp angle to score his first goal of the season at 4:22.
Brown’s assist tied him with Triple Crown legend Charlie Simmer for 12th place overall on the LA Kings’ all time career points list!
If that wasn’t enough (personal) historical achievements by the Kings’ players tonight, the floodgates were then forced open when only seconds later Michael Mersch finally did what “Mersch” always did best (at least in the AHL for the Ontario Reign (and the Manchester Monarchs before that) and that is pick up the puck in a scrum along the boards, and then attack the net with all his might to score his first ever NHL goal (and also didn’t add an unnecessary cross ice celebration slide, YEAH I’M STILL POINTING AT YOU YAKUPOV … AND FOR THE HELL OF IT, YOU TOO JOE THORNTON!) at 5:42! (#MerschMadness has officially begun!)
Then :16 seconds later after the ensuing faceoff, Toffoli scored his 18th goal of the year, assisted by Kopitar and (the “A” for awesome wearing) Drew Doughty at 5:58, to take a 3-0 lead! All 3 goals happened in just :96 seconds. The assist made Doughty surpass Steve Duchesne for third place on the Kings’ all time defensemen career points list!
Former San Jose Sharks and current Edmonton Oilers coach Todd McLellan had enough and pulled the Oilers goalie Cam Talbot from the net and replaced him with Anders Nilsson. The Oilers responded by finally solving Quick when Benoit Pouliot (remember him from the 2014 Stanley Cup final?) scored at 9:56 to make it 3-1 but Trevor Lewis counter-punched back when he was perfectly set-up by Captain Brown and made no mistake with the one timer at 14:18 to give the Kings back the 3 goal lead. The assist gave Brown sole possession of 12th place spot on the LA Kings’ all time points list (and he wasn’t done yet).
The Oilers got another one back at 1:59 of the 3rd period when Mark Letestu scored to make it 4-2, (he was assisted by former King Andrej Sekera, you know the guy that left LA last season because he cared more about the payoffs and not the playoffs??? (See what I did there?!!!) Well Captain Brown was having none of that when he scored a Power-Play goal with a backhander (pretty much in the same area (give or take) that Gretzky was when he scored to break Gordie’s record in that same building) at 11:58 to make it 5-2 and put the Oilers and Rexall Place away for good.
Jonathan Quick ended up making 42 saves while getting his 20th win (which puts him currently in second place for most wins in the season), both Captain Dustin Brown and Trevor Lewis had a goal and 2 assists each while the triumphantly returning Dwight King had a goal and an assist. The victory gave the LA Kings their 3rd win in a row (and that’s not too shabby considering they had to do it without the injured Jeff Carter) and their second straight game of scoring 5 goals! The Kings continue their Pacific Division road trip when they play the pesky Calgary Flames on New Year’s Eve (NOT Ashton Kutcher), this Thursday at 6 pm pst (9 pm est).
And last but not least, good-bye and farewell Northlands Coliseum/Skyreach Centre/Rexall Place and thank you for all the memories! Especially the last one ever!
Alright I’m out of here, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY AND GO KINGS GO!!!
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