Local News
Kings blow 4-goal lead but beat Oilers on last-minute goal in Game 1
LOS ANGELES — The Kings squeezed a blowout and a squeaker all into the first game of their opening-round playoff series at Crypto.com Arena on Monday night, beating the Edmonton Oilers, 6-5, in a contest that saw them storm to a 4-0 lead, only to break a 5-5 tie with 41 seconds to play.
Edmonton eliminated the Kings from the past three postseasons and in the first two of those series, the Kings also won Game 1. A key difference from last year’s clash, apart from home-ice advantage for the NHL’s best home team, has been the special teams battle. The Kings won that Monday with two power-play goals and nothing allowed shorthanded, though they did cede two six-on-five markers in a 36-second span during the dying embers.
“We could have made it less dramatic, but credit to them,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “We had to do it late.”
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night, in the same place and at the same time.
Phillip Danault, who scored eight goals all season, deposited two on Monday, including the game-winner in the final gasps of a contest that left the crowd breathless. Andrei Kuzmenko and Adrian Kempe posted matching totals of a goal and two assists. Kevin Fiala and Quinton Byfield each tallied and added a helper. Darcy Kuemper stopped 20 shots in his first playoff start since raising the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022.
Edmonton captain Connor McDavid burst forth with a goal and three primary assists. Leon Draisaitl and Corey Perry picked up a goal and an assist apiece. Mattias Janmark scored and Evan Bouchard had three helpers. Stuart Skinner made 24 saves.
The Kings exalted with 41.1 seconds showing on the game clock.
Vladislav Gavrikov knocked down McDavid’s pass and cleared the defensive zone before Trevor Moore skated down the puck and found a trailing Danault. His effort looked more like a 12-6 knuckle curveball than a wrist shot and it might have grazed Warren Foegele, but like the win, it counted.
“I got all of it,” Danault joked. “It was a great play from (Moore). I think it might have hit Foegele. Just a great play, a great drive by (Moore), so, we’ll take it.”
“It was a little bit scary, there were ups and downs, big time, being up 4-0 and them coming back, and, you know, they have their offensive machine,” he continued. “We have to learn from this, but we’ll take the win and move on.”
In some ways, it was a tale of two games, with Edmonton scoring all its goals in the final 20:05 on Monday after being dominated for essentially two whole periods.
Edmonton scored twice with the extra attacker after having killed off two full minutes of two-man disadvantage.
McDavid scored the equalizer himself, driving the net and knifing the puck past Kuemper with 1:28 left.
He had weaved into the low slot and slipped the puck by a prone Drew Doughty to set up Hyman’s redirection 36 seconds earlier.
“It’s the playoffs. This group has been through games like this, numerous times,” Hyman said. “Sometimes games aren’t scripted like you think they’re gonna go and you have to find a way to win. We fell short today, which sucks, but we have a history of bouncing back and I’m sure we’ll play a lot better in Game 2.”
The Oilers have reached the conference finals, the second round and Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final after their previous victories over the Kings, spearheaded by McDavid and Draisaitl.
“We have some really talented players who can will us back in the game and they did that,” Hyman said.
At the 7:43 mark of the third period, McDavid had his second pivoting primary assist, this one to Perry. He spun off Gavrikov this time and captain Anže Kopitar on the prior effort, perhaps the two strongest men in black and silver.
After Hyman illegally checked Brandt Clarke in the head and Jake Walman cross-checked Danault in the face, the Kings had their first two-man advantage and their second power-play goal of the night. It was Kempe serving up Fiala’s one-timer from high in the right circle. Kempe and Kuzmenko, who had the secondary assist, both earned their third points of the evening.
Kuzmenko, 29, played in his first playoff game in what Kopitar called “a great debut.”
Edmonton got its second goal off of Janmark’s crease-crashing effort 2:19 into the third period.
The Oilers went 16 minutes with a shot on goal and had just 10 through 40 minutes, but their 10th got them on the board with 4.7 seconds showing on the second-period clock.
McDavid drop-stepped off Kopitar to force an abrupt defensive rotation, opening up Draisaitl for a one-timer from the right circle. McDavid and Draisaitl now have 74 points in 19 playoff games against the Kings over four postseasons, nearly four combined points per contest.
That softened the blow from two middle-frame goals for the Kings.
At the 14:47 mark, Bouchard’s Teddy Ruxpin-soft clearing attempt was gobbled up by Kempe, who nearly scored unassisted. Instead, he had to await a recovery and Kuzmenko’s feed for a goal that sent the Swede skipping across the ice with his tongue out like Michael Jordan.
“He’s an unbelievable player, he’s one of the most underrated players league-wide,” Kopitar said. “Come playoff time, he’s got that little edge that he plays with that’s very encouraging and also very contagious throughout the lineup.”
Bouchard served up another pizza, this time to Byfield in the slot. He slid the puck a few inches to Danault, whose wrist shot made it 4-0. Byfield and Fiala had applied forecheck pressure to key the sequence.
In the opening salvo, Byfield made it 2-0 when he knocked Doughty’s shot out of the air with his glove and shoveled it toward the net, where it banked home off of Skinner’s back with 33 seconds left.
It only took 2:49 of this year’s series for the Kings to score more power-play goals than they did in all five playoff games last season (0 for 12). Fittingly, it was Kuzmenko, the trade deadline bargain who has become an offensive catalyst.
The Kings’ five-forward unit overwhelmed the Oilers to the point that Fiala’s seam pass could have been deflected home by Byfield almost as easily as it was by Kuzmenko at the back post.
“It was great timing to get the first one out of the way, get the crowd into it, get the guys into it,” Fiala said. “Everybody was hyped up.”
After the game, Byfield was quick to point out that Monday’s match served as yet another reminder that “no lead is safe in the playoffs.”
“We were up 4-0,” Byfield said. “Obviously, we’ve got to do a better job of closing that game out, but a win’s a win.”
By CLIFF BRUNT AP Sports Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points a day after being named the NBA’s MVP, and the Oklahoma City Thunder overwhelmed the Minnesota Timberwolves again, winning 118-103 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Gilgeous-Alexander shot 12 for 21 from the field and 13 for 15 from the free-throw line after receiving his MVP trophy from Commissioner Adam Silver before the game.
“I feel like all my emotions were so high, but I was a little bit tired out there, especially at the start,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I was a little too juiced up. Special moment. I’m happy we won so I can really enjoy the last couple days and soak it up. That really helps.”
Jalen Williams had 26 points and 10 rebounds and Chet Holmgren added 22 points for the Thunder.
Oklahoma City’s Lu Dort was named first-team all defense and Williams was named second-team all-defense earlier in the day. They helped anchor a unit that held Minnesota to 41.4% shooting.
“When you win games, you do it together and you have fun out there, everything else – all the individual stuff you want – it comes with it,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
Anthony Edwards scored 32 points for Minnesota, but it took him 26 shots to get them. Jaden McDaniels scored 22 points and Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 17 for the Timberwolves.
Game 3 is Saturday in Minneapolis.
Gilgeous-Alexander hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left in the first half, then made a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining to help Oklahoma City take a 58-50 lead. He scored 19 points before the break.
“We didn’t close the half very well,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “I thought if we close the half better then we don’t put ourselves on such a razor edge in the third.”
In the third quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander drove to the paint and threw up a wild shot that went in as he was fouled by his cousin, Alexander-Walker. Gilgeous-Alexander made the free throw to give the Thunder a 73-64 lead.
A lob by Cason Wallace to Holmgren for a two-handed jam on a fast break put Oklahoma City ahead 82-65 late in the third quarter. The Thunder took a 93-71 advantage into the fourth.
Minnesota closed to within 10 in the final period, but Oklahoma City kept the Timberwolves at bay late. Now, Minnesota gets to go home, where it is 4-1 in the playoffs.
Finch remained optimistic.
“Every minute in a series is a chance to find something,” he said. “So we’re going to go back home. This is a good team at home. So we’re going to go home and fight for Game 3. Heads up, look at the tape and get ready for Game 3.”
MONTEBELLO – The deeper a team goes in the playoffs, the tougher it gets. The Montebello baseball team has found that out the last three seasons.
The Oilers have amassed 61 wins during that span, but each time they have bowed out of the CIF Southern Section playoffs in the quarterfinals.
Montebello had flawless pitching and defense over the first two rounds of the postseason, but three errors helped contribute to a 7-3 loss to Heritage Christian in the Division 6 quarterfinals Thursday.
The Oilers (20-10) briefly threatened in the bottom of the seventh by scoring two runs, but left the bases loaded.
Heritage Christian (20-8-1) advances to Tuesday’s semifinals. It will face the winner of Friday’s game between Marshall and Santa Fe.
“You know, they are fighters year in and year out and this is the third year in a row going to the quarterfinals,” Montebello coach Manny Arana said. “We’ve had success and they’re all winners and we instill in them to be a winner. You have to be a fighter.
“You could see that in the last inning with a ball that could have gone five feet either way and put the tying run on base. After that, anything can happen. That’s baseball.”
Leading the way for the Oilers were senior center fielder Isaiah Cervantes, who had two singles, and freshman shortstop Nathan Govea, who had two singles and scored a run. Senior catcher Roberto Barraza had a double and an RBI.
Heritage Christian senior shortstop Eden Nalin led the way for team with three hits and an RBI, while three other players had two hits apiece.
The Warriors (22-8-1) opened the scoring with two runs in the first inning. One run came across on the first of three errors by the Oilers.
Two innings later, Montebello cut the lead in half with a run in the third inning.
Starting pitcher Fernando Cruz singled up the middle with two outs and came home on a double to left by Barraza.
The Oilers left two runners on base in the inning and also left runners on second and third in the second inning.
“From day one in the playoffs we’ve told them you have to throw strikes, play defense and get a clutch hit,” Arana said. “The first two games we did that and (Thursday) we had a couple of opportunities early and missed and that hurt us.”
Cruz opened the playoffs with a one-hitter. On Thursday Cruz scattered six his through five innings with five strikeouts.
“It’s been a good ride with my teammates, and we’ve been playing together for almost two or three years,” Cruz said. “I’ve shared the field with these seniors since before high school.”
The sixth inning turned out to be the downfall for Montebello, as the Warriors scored three runs.
With two outs, an infield pop fly was dropped for the third error of the game. That loaded the bases and the next two Warriors batters combined to knock in the three runs and increase their lead to 5-1.
Two more runs came across the next inning for a 7-1 advantage.
“In the seventh inning, we were down 7-1, but our team almost managed to get a comeback,” Cruz added. “We had the tying run at the plate, but just couldn’t get it done.”
Cruz was referring to the two-run rally and how they left the bases loaded to end the game.
Govea opened the inning with a single to left. Senior left fielder Devin Lopez was hit by the pitch and Cervantes loaded the bases with a single to right center.
An RBI walk to junior second baseman Michael Rios brought in the second run and a sacrifice fly by Cruz sent Lopez in to score. A fly ball to right ended the game and season for the Oilers.
Two tenant unions and several residents have each filed lawsuits against the city of Pasadena and the county of Los Angeles, frustrated in what they allege are agencies that have failed to meet their legal responsibilities to inspect and enforce safe and habitable living standards for renters following the Eaton fire.
Neighborhood Legal Services of L.A. County, a nonprofit legal advocacy group, announced on Thursday morning that, in conjunction with the legal firm Morrison Foerster LLP, it had filed lawsuits on behalf of the Altadena Tenants Union, Pasadena Tenants Union, along with four named wildfire survivors.
“The message that we’re sending with these lawsuits is simple,” said Whitney O’Byrne, a partner with Morrison Foerster and a board member of NLSLA. “When a government agency fails to protect the health and safety of its residents, especially the most vulnerable, it must be held accountable.”
The lawsuits aim to force government agencies to take legally required actions to thoroughly inspect rental residences for hazardous toxins and see that appropriate remediation methods are used by landlords to make them safe and livable.
“A primary issue presenting was that landlords were not remediating units contaminated with toxic smoke, soot and ash,” said Lena Silver, director of policy and administrative advocacy at NLSLA.
Silver said the city and county governments are responsible for conducting the inspections that are the first step in the process, but they have not met that responsibility.
“The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health, responsible for enforcing and inspecting habitability rights for tenants in unincorporated Altadena, and the City of Pasadena Code Compliance Division, responsible for doing the same in Pasadena, both maintain that smoke, soot and ash inspection do not fall within their purview,” she said.
“Pasadena continues to state that smoke and ash remediation is a purely civil issue,” Silver said. “While Los Angeles has informed us that it has performed a handful of inspections, the type of inspection they’re providing cannot adequately identify the health risks of the impact of toxic smoke, soot and ash.”
L.A. County Public Health did not comment on the claims, and Pasadena’s spokesperson said the city has not been served with the lawsuit and couldn’t respond.
Conditions have put tenants between a rock and a hard place, Silver explained. Because some landlords are refusing to pay for the professional, certified remediation necessary to address toxins imbedded in places like walls and insulation, renters are having to make a choice.
Some have moved back in to unclean units and have begun experiencing health issues, Silver said, because they can’t afford to move elsewhere. Others are still living in temporary quarters, or in their cars, or paying two rents at once in order to keep their Altadena and Pasadena places, because they’re ultimately more affordable.
“We’ve also heard stories of tenants paying out of pocket at extremely high cost for testing just to confirm the toxic levels of lead and other contaminants that we know are present,” Silver said.
Brenda Lyon, a tenant in Pasadena, asked her landlord to file a homeowner’s claim in order to bring in a qualified remediation team, but they refused. Instead, she and her husband paid out of pocket for the work, expecting reimbursement from the landlord.
“I called every politician’s office, every city office,” Lyon said. “I was advised to file a code compliance, so I did, (but) the code compliance was denied, stating my problem was a civil issue.
“A habitable premise, per the state of California, is a right of a tenant,” she said, “so why would no one in the city make that happen for me?”
When she and her husband again approached the landlord about filing a homeowner’s claim so the couple could be reimbursed, they were told No and that, if they didn’t like it, they could move.
“We need our city to have our back, so that we can all move back in safely,” Lyon said.
Katie Clark, a founder of Altadena Tenant Union, who lost her rental home of 15 years to the Eaton fire, said she speaks with people every day that are still displaced, are living in unclean facilities, have been hit with illegal rent hikes, or are a step away from being homeless because their money is dwindling as they cover the cost of temporary housing.
“Throughout all of this, Los Angeles County has been virtually silent when it comes to the plight of tenants,” she said.
Many, Clark said, are people of modest means who rely on rent-controlled apartments to get by.
“The county has consistently passed the buck and shrugged off its responsibilities, telling tenants, ‘You’re on your own,’” she said.
“We’ve been told there’s nothing the County can do,” she said. “We know that’s not true … Just because we don’t own property doesn’t mean we’re not part of this community.”
Silver and the legal teams from both groups intend to make both Pasadena and L.A. County meet their obligations.
“The County and City must immediately provide adequate inspections of rental units with smoke, soot and ash damage caused by the Eaton fire and do it in a manner that actually ensures the health and safety of tenants,” Silver said. “They must cite property owners for any damage and they must require property owners to remediate that damage promptly and thoroughly to eliminate any health risks.”
Jarret Liotta is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and photographer.
-
Politics4 months agoCalifornia’s Affordability Crisis: Can Governor Newsom’s Reforms Ease the Burden?
-
Local News3 months agoBishop Amat boys soccer leaves no doubt with rout of El Segundo in Division 1 semifinals
-
Crime News4 months agoSan francisco sees major crime drop: 601 arrests and 73 firearms seized in 2024
-
Crime News4 months agoEight charged in los angeles wildfires for arson and looting
-
Local News4 months agoCalifornia’s AB 413: New crosswalk parking law aims to boost pedestrian safety
-
Crime News4 months agoSan francisco man faces felony theft charges after shoplifting in colma
-
Crime News4 months agoSan diego woman struck and killed by pickup truck in hit-and-run
-
Business4 months agoCalifornia banks offer mortgage relief to fire victims in los angeles and ventura counties