GAME RECAP: Kings 5, Oilers 1

EDMONTON, AB -Checkmate.
Darnell Nurse found the back of the net for his first goal of the season in his return to action and Mikko Koskinen stopped 34 of 39 shots but Adrian Kempe's multi-goal effort lifted the Kings to a 5-1 win over the Oilers Sunday at Rogers Place.
The Orange & Blue dropped their record to 16-7-0 and 9-2-0 at home, and suffered their second consecutive loss for just the first time of the campaign. Edmonton's penalty kill ended the night 2-for-5 as the group allowed three power-play goals against during a late five-minute major boarding penalty and game misconduct in the third period to Connor McDavid.

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FIRST BLOOD

There was bound to be some Finnish between compatriots Mikko Koskinen and Rasmus Kupari.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the type the Oilers wanted to hear early as Los Angeles forward Kupari broke the ice with his third of the season at 2:01 of the first period for the game's opening goal.
After a neutral zone scrum backtracked into the Oilers zone, Kings centre Trevor Moore muscled Kris Russell off the puck to feather a pass over to his teammate at the backdoor, chipping the puck over the left pad of Koskinen for the score.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Would Nurse be in the lineup? Many had their fingers crossed.
The Oilers pillar on the blueline did indeed make his return on Sunday after suffering a broken finger that kept him out of action for six games. As he's wont to do, the 26-year-old had an immediate impact, recording his first goal of the year shorthanded to make it 2-1 in the second period.
After accepting a backhand saucer pass from Nugent-Hopkins, Nurse shook off the stick check of Drew Doughty as he glided towards the goal-line then lifted the biscuit short side over Quick's shoulder for the marker. Nugent-Hopkins collected his 21st assist and Hyman grabbed his seventh helper on Edmonton's fourth 4-on-5 goal of the season.

SAVE OF THE GAME

A quick-twitch dismissal by Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick is Sunday's Save of the Game.
While the Oilers were down by a goal on the power play in the first period, Connor McDavid found Leon Draisaitl wide open in the goalmouth. The German pumped the net with a shot marked for twine only to have Quick discard it by flashing the leather with his glove hand.

TURNING POINT

Kempe's second-period snipe at 1:42 gave the Kings a two-goal lead and stood as the difference in the match.
The pivot zipped within Edmonton's zone with speed before using Nurse's frame as a screen and shooting through the defender to blow the puck blocker side on Koskinen for his ninth goal of the campaign.

TOP PERFORMER

Kempe's two-goal performance earned him the Top Performer accolade for the Kings as he registered the game-winning goal and the insurance score to increase his goal total to 10.
On the Oilers side, Nurse is deserving of honourable mention in his first game back since Nov. 18 against the Winnipeg Jets. The rearguard picked up his first of the season, put five shots on net and logged 25:54 of ice time.

PARTING WORDS

Oilers Head Coach Dave Tippett's assessment of the loss:
"This has been coming for a while. We've been masking it with some special teams stuff but we haven't played well and we haven't had enough guys play well for a while. It was a 2-1 score but we weren't good enough in it and then we gave up some power-play goals in the end.
"There is some adversity that you got to go through. I don't mind some adversity as long as you react the right way to it. We've got too many guys that aren't contributing enough to help us here. When your special teams are good and your goaltender can steal you some games, those things get masked. We need more throughout our lineup."
Tippett on having Nurse being back with the defence core:
"He was good to get back. He's been raring to go for a week. He skated hard, he's well-rested and he looked like it. He takes a lot of minutes. When we got the injuries that we do on the left side, there's a lot of minutes that have to get eaten up there and it's good to have him back."

Tippett on what areas the Oilers need to improve on:
"It's an execution thing. You got to be able to make plays under pressure. Sometimes, there's a guy on your back and you got to make that play. It's not just all easy plays flowing around. You got to stop and go; use your body to protect the puck and make a good play.
"Good plays aren't just the ones that send people for breakaways, they're the plays 10 feet in your own end to get you out of trouble or a wall play that comes around the wall and you make the execution. The D is pinching on you and you make a good play to get it to another guy to get it out. Those are the things that we're lacking right now. First play below or goal-line, wall play, turnovers, those are the things that leave us chasing the game and we'll have to improve."
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the Oilers allowing the first goal of the game:
"I don't know why it's happening but obviously as the game went on, we started to find our game and our legs a little bit. We knew what to expect from these guys. It's not like we weren't prepared but they came out hard and we couldn't match that right away. As the game went on, we started to push back a little bit, find our game and create some looks. Obviously, just not the effort we needed tonight."

Nurse on the Oilers slow starts:
"It's hard to pin-point. We know every team we play against, we're going to get their A-Game because of the way we've started this season and how we've found ways to win games. Every team we play against comes out on top of the game and on their toes. We need to have that push to make other teams react to us. As a team, we don't go out there and try to give up the first goal. That's not our objective. Our objective is to go out there and get the first goal. We've got to push the envelope a little bit more, I'm not saying take chances or anything, but bring the game to other teams."
Zach Hyman on what components the Oilers were lacking:
"Just being hard on the puck. In order to create offence against a team like that, you got to do it off the cycle because they stack it up in their 1-3-1 and then sit back. You got to score greasy goals, get to the net and they did a good job of boxing us out so there wasn't much around the net."