The Kings opened their week on Monday night in Edmonton at Rogers Place with a big game against the Oilers. It was game three of four between the two teams this season and the first of two in Edmonton. Heading into the game, the Kings were 1-0-1 in their previous two head-to-head matchups, but by night's end it was 1’s across the board. Falling 4-2, the Kings failed to pass the Oilers in the standings and will continue to hold the top Wild Card spot in the Western Conference with a 29-18-10.
The Kings netted the first goal of the game on Monday night when Trevor Moore added to his team-high 22nd goal of the season. Moore found the back of the net 6:45 into the game when Quinton Byfield fed him the puck in the slot after gathering the puck off of a missed net point shot from Andreas Englund. Playing with the lead, the Kings limited the Oilers offensive opportunities for much of the first period, but a defensive zone turnover in the final minute of the opening 20 proved to be costly. Seconds from heading to the locker room with a 1-0 lead, Connor McDavid picked up a loose puck after a failed Kings breakout attempt and fed Zach Hyman for a one-timer that beat David Rittich with 24 seconds remaining in the period. Hyman’s goal was his 38th on the year.
The Kings would retake the lead in the second period when Matt Roy drew a double team upon entering the zone with the puck. Roy’s sudden pressure resulted in the puck bouncing back to a trailing Anze Kopitar who found a streaking Alex Laferriere down the slot. Kopitar fed his linemate Laferriere and the rookie beat Stuart Skinner on the glove side for his eighth goal of the season. Kopitar’s assist gave him 30 on the season, making it the 18th consecutive season to start his career to hit that mark. Kopitar becomes the 14th player in NHL history to have 18 seasons of 30 or more helpers.
After retaking the lead with 12:26 to go in the second period, another late goal by the Oilers evened the game at 2-2. The Oilers fourth ranked power play in the NHL struck to tie things up when Leon Draisaitl tipped in a point shot from Evan Bouchard in the high slot for his 15th power play goal of the season.
Tied up at 2-2 entering the third period, it didn’t remain that way long. It took just 1:25 for the Oilers to take their first lead of the game. Bouchard picked up his second point of the game by blasting a one-timer from the blue line and beat Rittich high glove for his 15th goal of the season. Bouchard’s goal tied him with Mackenzie Weeger of the Calgary Flames for the most goals by a defenseman in the NHL. Into the final minutes of regulation, the Oilers distanced themselves from the Kings with a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tally with 3:29 to go.
Notable news includes the unknown status of Adrian Kempe at this time. Kempe left in the final minutes of the game after being rolled up on and landed awkwardly on his left wrist. Kempe immediately returned to the bench and went down the tunnel with a towel over the left arm.
Rittich made his third consecutive start for the Kings and stopped 27 of 31 shots.
