GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Kings 2

LOS ANGELES, CA - Call it a California sweep.
The Edmonton Oilers took all six of the possible six points available to them on their three-game road trip, completing the perfect California tour and winning their sixth-straight game with a 3-2 victory at Crypto.com Arena in an important Pacific Division duel with the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.
Evan Bouchard recorded his first-career three-point game, posting a goal and two assists, while Connor McDavid set a new career-high with his 42nd goal of the season that stretched his point streak to 15 games.
Warren Foegele reached double-digit goals with his 10th of the campaign, and Mike Smith made 31 saves for the third straight game to improve to 6-1-1 in his last eight appearances, including seven starts.
The Oilers improve to 12-2-1 in their last 15 games and earn their 42nd victory of the season, giving them a three-point lead on the Kings for second place in the Pacific with 10 games remaining in their regular-season schedule.

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FIRST BLOOD

As the puck came out of the Kings zone inside the first three minutes of the opening period, McDavid hopped off the bench and took a pass from Bouchard before breaking over the blueline with speed, taking LA defender Troy Stecher wide, and sniping a short-side effort over the right shoulder of Jonathan Quick to set a new career-high with his 42nd goal of the season.

MORE MCDAVID MAGIC

Make it a new career-high in goals and a lot more than that for Captain Connor.
The impressive finish from McDavid also extended the captain's incredible point streak to 15 games, totaling 13 goals and 16 assists at the final buzzer, while also marking a new career-high goal-scoring streak of six games. The last Oilers player with a goal streak of six games or more was Jimmy Carson when he scored in seven straight during the 1988-89 campaign.
If you weren't wowed enough, McDavid now owns two of the top three point streaks this season, including an NHL-best 17 games earlier this campaign.

NO STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

The Kings leveled the score two-and-a-half minutes into the second despite their lack of numbers on the battlefield. Edmonton had the first opportunity with the man advantage, but Trevor Moore was able to pick up a loose puck along the boards before spinning away and going in alone shorthanded to beat Smith five-hole.

THE FOEG OF WARREN

Foegele struck double-digit goals for the season when he elevated the Oilers back into the lead in the second period. Bouchard sent Foegele and Derek Ryan a pass from just inside the Kings blueline, and Ryan put a crisp pass onto the tape of Foegele to one-time home his 10th goal of the campaign and end a five-game pointless drought with just under four-and-a-half to go in the middle frame.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Adrian Kempe came streaming in on a breakaway after blazing through two Oilers defenders with speed, but Smith stopped the Kings forward in his tracks after being able to get the chance to slide it through five-hole despite Darnell Nurse taking a slashing penalty trying to slow him down.

EVAN'S BIG NIGHT

Bouchard had one of the biggest games of his career, recording a goal and two assists for the first-ever three-point night in the NHL.
The 22-year-old blueliner set up McDavid's opener, provided the secondary helper on Foegele's 10th of the season in the second period, and scored his own in the final frame that went down as the game-winner to make it double-digit goals on the year when he powered a slapshot off the glove of Quick in. The Oakville, Ont. product was also active defensively, making a number of good plays in his own end in a show of versatility.
With the three points on Thursday, Bouchard now leads all Oilers defencemen in scoring with 38 points, including 10 goals and 28 assists.

PARTING WORDS

Foegele on the team's performance tonight:
"I thought we had some good moments, and then some moments that weren't as great. But good teams find a way to win, and I thought we really competed in the third. Some massive saves from Smitty there to keep us in it."
Foegele on what winning in different ways says about the group:
"I think it's good going into the playoffs. You're going to have to find different ways to win, and doing that the last couple of games is helping us get more growth as a team and being more mature out there on the ice and stuff like that. You take it as a positive and you keep moving forward."
Foegele on scoring his goal:
"it was a great play by Bouch to feed [Derek Ryan], and he had no hesitation to slide it over to me to tap it in. It's great passes by both of them, and I was just lucky to cash it in."
"I was yelling. I was yelling for it, but it was a great play."
Foegele on Bouchard recording his first three-point night:
"Bouch is a hell of a player. He brings so much poise with the puck, and he can make plays not many other people can do. You saw tonight, he's got a bomb as well. When he's using that thing, it's hard to save, so he brings a lot to our team and he's just going to continue to get better."

Bouchard on his first three-point game in the NHL:
"Obviously it's a great feeling getting that, but more importantly, we got the win. That's all that really matters right now."
Bouchard on the importance of tonight's game in the Pacific Division standings:
"Coming into it we knew we'd had to play a solid game against LA. We know the way they want to play, and they've been really strong recently. So like I said, it's just good to come out with a win here."
Bouchard on the Oilers allowing only 13 goals over their last six games:
"It's a big focus of ours. Going into playoffs, you've got to be really solid defensively. It helps when our goaltenders are standing on their heads, and that's what they've been doing recently. It's really showing and it's paying off for everyone."
Bouchard on the play of Smith, who's 6-0-1 in his last seven starts:
"Yeah, numbers don't lie I guess. He's been unbelievable for us. He's been making those big saves. The way he plays the puck is incredible. You saw last game giving us that game-winner, and I can't say enough good things about him."

Coach Woodcroft provides his thoughts on the game:
"I thought it was a complete 60-minute effort in terms of finding a way to win a game. I thought our first period was excellent. We played fast, had a little bit of a hiccup after we gave up a shorthanded goal there, but we got it on the rails in the last six or so minutes of the second period. I thought it was a competitive third period, so all-in-all, we found a way to win in a tough building."
Coach Woodcroft on sending the top powerplay out late in the game after it conceded a shorthanded goal earlier:
"I thought that was an important point in the game, number one. I thought it was a chance for me to show belief in that unit. They went out, they created a few chances, and I was comfortable with their defensive awareness in that situation. They didn't score a goal, but they were dangerous. More than anything, I wanted that unit to feel my confidence in them."
Coach Woodcroft on the Oilers allowing only 13 goals in their last six wins:
"I thought we had a tough game there a few weeks ago in Calgary. We gave up way more goals than we wanted to give up. We have players that are passionate about playing the game the right way. They put in the necessary work in to execute, and they have a lot of pride. So you got back to six games, but I just look at this road trip here. We gave up four goals in three games, and two of them were even-strength, so that's a good sign for us as we kind of navigate our way down the stretch here in the month of April. We're going to need that commitment and that mindset because we're playing some really tough teams here."