McDavid has 5 assists for Oilers in Game 1 win against Kings

EDMONTON -- Zach Hyman had a hat trick and an assist, and Connor McDavid had five assists for the Edmonton Oilers in a 7-4 win against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round at Rogers Place on Monday.

“I thought we played a really connected game," McDavid said. "I thought all five guys were working together even if we had to dump it in, I thought we had good numbers on the forecheck, but ultimately we didn’t have to dump it in all that much because we were connected coming through there, and that’s what it requires.”

Leon Draisaitl and Adam Henrique each had a goal and an assist, and Evan Bouchard had four assists for the Oilers, who are the No. 2 seed from the Pacific Division. Stuart Skinner made 33 saves.

“At this time of year, everybody is so focused on winning that it doesn’t matter who scores,” said Hyman, who led the Oilers with an NHL career-high 54 goals this season. “Obviously, that has been a big part of my game this year, so it is important that I am able to produce. But regardless of who scores, we are all pulling on the same rope. It was just a huge effort from the entire group tonight. It was a good win.”

Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who are the No. 3 seed from the Pacific. Cam Talbot made 38 saves.

Game 2 of the best-of-7 series will be played here on Wednesday.

"It’s a seven-game series, and you have to win the first to four. We’re down 1-0, but we can easily win and make it 1-1 next game,” Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty said. “We have to put it behind us and learn from what we did wrong and fix what we did wrong and bring it into the next game.

“That’s not our model. That’s not the way we play. It’s frustrating. We just have to put that game in the past and get back to doing what we do best, and that’s playing good two-way hockey."

Hyman put Edmonton ahead 1-0 at 6:52 of the first period. McDavid spun around Mikey Anderson in the right circle and sent a pass to Hyman, who was able to swat it in after it was initially broken up by Trevor Moore.

“Starts are really important, especially against a team as well structured defensively as the Kings are,” McDavid said. “You have to get out to a good start. It helps if you can score the first one, and it kind of forces them to open up a little bit."

Henrique made it 2-0 at 9:36 of the first, roofing a wrist shot from the left face-off dot over Talbot’s blocker. It was his first playoff goal since Game 6 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final, a span of 4,333 days, which is the longest between postseason goals by a player in NHL history.

“It’s been a while, but it’s nice to be back in the playoffs,” Henrique said. “Since coming here (from Anaheim at the Trade Deadline), a lot of people have talked about the atmosphere, but until you’ve experienced the playoff atmosphere here it’s hard to explain it and understand what it’s really like. It was exciting to be part of it."

Hyman pushed it to 3-0 at 4:50 of the second period. McDavid brought the puck out from behind the net and sent a cross-slot pass to Hyman for a one-timer.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made it 4-0 with a power-play goal at 8:24, tapping in a backdoor pass from Draisaitl.

Anderson made it 4-1 at 10:56 with a slap shot from the above the left circle through a screen by Moore.

Trevor Lewis appeared to score again for Los Angeles at 12:35, but a video review determined that he batted the puck into the net with his glove.

Kempe did make it 4-2 at 17:56 when his cross-crease pass for Quinton Byfield deflected in off the skate of Bouchard.

Draisaitl extended the lead to 5-2 with a power-play goal at 1:08 of the third period, scoring from a sharp angle with a one-timer below the right circle.

Hyman scored another power-play goal at 6:17 to make it 6-2, tapping in a backdoor pass from McDavid at the left post to complete the hat trick.

Pierre-Luc Dubois made it 6-3 at 16:56 with a shot that deflected in off of the skate of Darnell Nurse.

Moore then cut it to 6-4 at 18:49, but Warren Foegele scored into an empty net with 26 seconds remaining for the 7-4 final.

"There were dirty goals. That’s how we’re going to score,” Kempe said. “We had some looks early in the game, and in the second and third period we had some high-danger chances that didn’t go in, but those ugly goals went in, and that’s something we have to keep doing. Keep throwing pucks on net and have bodies around there."

NOTES: McDavid is the 13th player in NHL history to have five assists in a playoff game, and the first since Geoff Courtnall did it for the St. Louis Blues on April 23, 1998. The NHL record is six, held by Wayne Gretzky and Mikko Leinonen. ... The Oilers were 3-for-4 on the power play. The Kings were 0-for-2. ... Bouchard is the second defenseman in Oilers history to have at least four assists in a playoff game, joining Paul Coffey, who did it twice.