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Knights' season ends with OT loss to Oilers in Game 5 of 2nd round

Danny Webster, Las Vegas Review-Journal on

Published in Hockey

The Golden Knights played a nearly perfect defensive game.

They didn’t give up many dangerous looks. The Edmonton Oilers had to work for whatever chances they had.

Perhaps it was fitting that the game’s only goal came on a scramble in front of the crease.

The Knights’ season is over, and a summer of what could have been begins.

Oilers right wing Kasperi Kapanen jammed a loose puck into the side of the net at 7:19 of overtime, and the Knights were eliminated from the playoffs with a 1-0 loss in Game 5 of the teams’ second-round series Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena.

Kapanen, who was a healthy scratch the first three games of the series, got his stick on the puck off a shot from defenseman John Klingberg. The puck stayed loose on the left side of the crease with defensemen Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore crowding the blue paint to prevent it.

By the time they fell onto the ice, it was too late.

Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner made 24 saves for his second consecutive shutout.

Goaltender Adin Hill made 31 saves and was aided by a strong defensive team performance, despite the Knights not having captain Mark Stone in the lineup due to an upper-body injury he suffered in Game 3.

The Knights made a concerted effort to pack the defensive zone. Part of that was not having Stone in the lineup, taking away one of their leading scorers and better defenders.

But exerting the energy they did defensively didn’t give way for many chances offensively. The Knights had pockets where they got the rush game going, but didn’t put enough puck traffic on Skinner to test him.

 

There were 31 combined shots through two periods. The Knights accounted for 13 of them. They missed the net 14 times, a common theme for the Knights throughout the series.

Each dangerous Edmonton chance was met with an anxious hush over the 18,288 in attendance. The Oilers had the game’s first two power plays, but the Knights’ penalty killing unit came through again and improved to 10-for-11 in the series.

Both teams had chances early in the third. Left wing Brett Howden, moved up to the top line with Stone out, tipped the puck wide on an open net off a setup from center Jack Eichel.

Oilers center Leon Draisaitl was sprung for a breakaway on the same shift, but Hill made his biggest save of the game to that point.

Hill raised that stop with a bigger one on Oilers captain Connor McDavid with 1:07 remaining on a two-on-one. Defenseman Noah Hanifin did not stray from McDavid on the rush and got a stick on McDavid’s shot, and Hill made the save.

The Knights did everything right defensively throughout the series, especially on McDavid and Draisaitl, to give them a chance.

McDavid had one goal and five assists in the series, while Draisaitl had two goals and four assists.

At the end of the day, the Oilers’ depth prevailed, as they outscored the Knights 14-7 at five-on-five for the series.

Depth is what carried the Knights to the Stanley Cup two years ago, which included a six-game series win over the Oilers.

It’s what ended their season this time around.


©2025 Las Vegas Review-Journal. Visit reviewjournal.com.. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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