Leon Draisaitl isn’t happy with the refs.
The Edmonton Oilers lost Game 3 of their first-round series with the Los Angeles Kings on Friday by a score of 3-2 in overtime.
Earlier in the game, the Oilers put themselves on top when Connor McDavid scored back-to-back power-play goals. Immediately after McDavid’s second goal, Draisaitl was handed a slashing penalty for giving Kings defenceman Drew Doughty a tap on his shin pads. The Kings would score on the subsequent power play to tie the game at 2-2.
After the game, Draisaitl sounded off on the referees opting to call him for a light slash while ignoring Doughty throwing a knee-on-knee hit on McDavid…
“We can definitely be smarter. I took a bad penalty there. That’s on me, but I’m not really sure what the standard is right now… You don’t call a clear knee-on-knee right in front of you, then you call a slashing penalty. It wasn’t smart by me, I know that. I just don’t really know what the standard is right now.”
This isn’t the first time that somebody on the Oilers has been critical of the Kings getting away with what they viewed as a dirty play. Back in November when the two teams met for the first time during the 2022-23 season, Kings defenceman Alex Edler hit McDavid with his knee and Zach Hyman called him out during the subsequent intermission for making “an extremely dangerous play.”
Coming into Game 3, the Kings carried a significant lead in power play opportunities throughout the series, as they had 10 chances while the Oilers had four between Games 1 and 2. The penalty differential was closer in Game 3, as the Kings went on the man advantage five times and the Oilers did so four times.
The Oilers will head into Game 4 in Los Angeles on Sunday down 2-1 in the series badly in need of a win before they head back to Edmonton for Game 5.