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Kings' Alex Laferriere Benched in 1-0 Loss to Oilers

Alex Laferriere has had a surprisingly good sophomore season in the NHL. In 41 games, he has 13 goals and assists apiece while a sterling +11. However, since scoring against Nashville on the road, he hasn't scored since (eight games), only collecting one assist in that same span. Souring stats tend to amplify when other aspects of your game go ary.

Against the Oilers, Laferriere would be run into the boards by opposing captain Connor McDavid, who had extra snarl on his 28th birthday. Laferriere would retaliate, scooping McDavid up by the legs and throwing him down to the ice. Another Oiler would come off the bench to continue the vendetta, and both would be sent off to bring the game to a four-on-four.

The four-on-four would be all the Oilers would need to beat the Kings. McDavid and Leon Draisaitl spent a little over 1:20 out on the ice and still had energy to burn Trevor Moore into a small oblivion and beat Darcy Kuemper on a putback. McDavid was held without a shot on goal in their first contest against one another this season but buried this opportunity.

For Laferriere, he would not see a shift in the third period. He is fully healthy by all counts, but Head Coach Jim Hiller was not pleased with Laferriere's decision to change the potential outcome of the game. Hiller described it postgame as:

"One really poor penalty by Laferriere, it was a really bad penalty, even though it got evened out. The was probably the moment in the game that I liked the least."

The move to bench Laferriere looked like a cold and harsh decision, especially when the King's offense has gone cold turkey for the latest stretch of games to which their defense is as sharp as it can get, but they are grasping at minimal point production in the standings. But for Hiller, and the big picture, the frustration is a chasm of the reality that depicts playing these Oilers, yet again.

The Oilers beat the Kings on special teams. The gap is as wide as it could possibly be. The sad thing for these Kings is that it's almost impossible to avoid the situation. They killed off two Oiler powerplays this time but conceded an unnecessary four-on-four that would decide the game's fate.

Frustration is entirely understandable for this reason alone, as the Kings held their own, per usual, against the Oilers at even strength. The problem is age-old at this point, with very little the Kings can do to prevent their hemorrhaged disadvantage on special teams against their Northern rival. For Laferriere, he just happened to be a case point for what seemed inevitable in a contest between these two clubs.