Oilers Dethrone Kings In 4-2 Victory

Drew Doughty is a cheating cheater and deserved this.

Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Los Angelas Kings by a score of 4-2 on Sunday night. McDavid notched a goal and 2 assists in his first game back from injury while Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Josh Archibald got the other Oiler markers.

It was a game that made you fall asleep at times and then cheer at other times. There was even a little trade news halfway through the game! I got all the details right here...

1st Period:

With Connor McDavid being back in the Oilers lineup you might’ve expected the Oilers to buzzing early and often at the beginning of this one. That wasn’t the case for either team.

Both the Kings and the Oilers looked a little sleepy for the majority of the period. Perhaps the late start had an effect on that but it made for some very boring hockey to watch. McDavid’s line failed to generate much offence, but the Draisaitl line looked to be humming as per usual.

We would finally get some excitement late in the period as McDavid would connect with Draisaitl on the team’s lone power-play to get the Oilers on the board. It was a play we’ve seen plenty of times before, with McDavid sending a cross-ice pass to Draisaitl to one-time into the net. It will never not be beautiful. 1-0 Oilers at the end of 20.

2nd Period:

The Kings came out shooting at the beginning of the second period. A few deflected shots almost found their way into the back of the net but Mike Smith stood tall to keep the Kings off the board.

Edmonton would eventually flip the script and put the pressure back on the Kings. Some hard work by Kailer Yamamoto on the right-side boards was able to work the puck to Caleb Jones at the point. Jones would let a wrist-shot go and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would find a way to tip it past Peterson. 2-0 Oilers.

This gave the Oilers a boost of energy and they started to tilt the rink toward the LA end. Connor McDavid would get a clear-cut breakaway but would fail to register a shot as Drew Doughty hooked up his hands. Of course there was no penalty.

McDavid would get his revenge shortly after as he would hold onto the puck on a 2-on-1 and make an absolutely remarkable move around Peterson to give the Oilers a 3-0 lead. A goal that will definitely dominate highlight reels for the weeks to come.

It wouldn’t all be good for Edmonton, as Anze Kopitar would register a power-play goal late in the period to get LA on the board. At the end of 40 minutes the Oilers were ahead by a score of 3-1.

3rd Period:

The Kings would make things interesting early on in the third period. Less than a minute into Dustin Brown would hold onto the puck on a 2-on-1 rush and beat Smith on the glove side. 3-2 Oilers.

The rest of the period would be exactly what the Oilers needed. They were able to limit LA’s chances and Josh Archibald was able to seal things with an empty-netter. It wasn’t the most exciting period but it was the one that Edmonton needed.

Oilers slide back into the win column as they take this one 4-2.

Takeaways:

• Connor McDavid is a national treasure. First game back from injury playing with sub-par wingers and he puts up 3pts. Absolutely brilliant.
• Mike Smith had yet another great night in the Oilers crease tonight. The Kings put on a ton of pressure at the beginning the second that could have derailed the entire game but he stood tall. The old man this has it!
• Caleb Jones and Ethan Bear were very impressive on the backend tonight in the absence of Oscar Klefbom. Jones made a great play on RNH’s goal in the second period while Bear played a grand total of 26 minutes, second behind only Darnell Nurse.
• Kailer Yamamoto stays hot as he notched his 21st point in his 21st game of the season on an assists on the RNH goal. I love every minute that this kid succeeds.
• The Oilers acquired D Mike Green from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for F Kyle Broadziak and a conditional pick late in the third period. The Oilers now have a logjam at RHD....more moves must be coming!
• Edmonton slides into 2nd place in the Pacific Division as they improve to 33-22-7 on the season, good enough for 73pts. They’ll continue their playoff push this Tuesday as they head to Anaheim to take on the Ducks! Lets Go Oilers!