Doughty: Kings will smack McDavid if given the chance
Drew Doughty made it clear the Los Angeles Kings haven't forgotten Connor McDavid's controversial hit on Mikey Anderson.
McDavid was penalized for boarding Anderson back in March but avoided supplemental discipline. Doughty is adamant his squad will use the saga as motivation to make life difficult on the MVP favorite throughout their upcoming playoff rematch.
connor mcdavid takes a two-minute minor for boarding mikey anderson 1:28 into the game. pic.twitter.com/X2pb1ukbyy
— zach (@zjlaing) March 31, 2023
"We didn't feel good about it, that's for sure," Doughty said, per TSN. "I mean, (Anderson) was out for a week, week-and-a-half. We lost some games without him ... It's not something we'll forget.
"Like I said earlier, we don't want to be going to the box, so I don't know that we're going to be taking dumb penalties on them or anything like that. But if we get a chance to smack (McDavid), we're going to try to do that."
The Oilers set an NHL record this season with a 32.4% conversion rate on the power play, and McDavid led the league with 71 points with the man advantage. Leon Draisaitl (62) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (53) finished second and third.
The Kings' penalty kill ranked 24th at 75.8%.
Edmonton and Los Angeles finished five points apart in the Pacific Division standings this season. In last year's playoffs, the two sides went seven games in Round 1, with the Oilers prevailing. Game 1 begins Monday.