Leon Draisaitl criticizes reffing in series with Kings: “I just don’t really know what the standard is right now”

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.