Adrian Kempe scored the shootout winner as the Los Angeles Kings earned a ration of revenge from last year’s playoffs, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Saturday in the first meeting between the two teams since last spring.
Corey Perry, Andre Lee and Alex Laferriere scored in regulation for the Kings (19-15-10), who snapped a two-game losing skid. The Kings have lost in the first round of the playoffs to Edmonton in four consecutive seasons.
Leon Draisaitl had a pair of goals and Connor McDavid also scored for the Oilers (22-16-7), who had a two-game winning streak halted. It was the eighth time this season the Oilers failed to extend a winning streak to three games.
Anton Forsberg made 21 stops to earn the win in the Los Angeles net, while Connor Ingram recorded 28 saves for the Oilers.
TAKEAWAYS
Kings: Perry, who spent the last two seasons with Edmonton, haunted his former team by scoring his 10th of the season. The 40-year-old forward missed the last two games dealing with a personal issue.
Oilers: McDavid extended his point streak to a career-high 18 games (19 goals, 23 assists), eclipsing his previous high of 17 games reached twice previously in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
KEY MOMENT
The Oilers tied the game at 3-3 9:20 into the third period on a five-on-three power play as McDavid took a feed from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and scored his 30th of the season.
KEY STAT
Draisaitl got Edmonton’s first two goals after a pre-game ceremony recognizing his Dec. 16 achievement of reaching 1,000 regular-season points. Draisaitl became the 103rd player in NHL history to reach the mark, joining Wayne Gretzky, McDavid, Jari Kurri and Mark Messier as the only players in Oilers franchise history to reach the milestone.
The 30-year-old German forward hit 1,000 points in 824 games, fourth quickest among active players behind McDavid (659), Sidney Crosby (757) and Nikita Kucherov (809). It was also Draisaitl’s 71st career multi-goal game, moving him past Messier into fourth in franchise history.
UP NEXT
Kings: Host the Dallas Stars on Monday.
Oilers: Visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
