Quinton Byfield scored his second goal of the game with 1:41 remaining in overtime as the Los Angeles Kings beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Saturday.
“We had strong contributions from some guys, but we just couldn’t maintain the momentum; just because everybody was not playing to their best,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the loss.
Byfield scored on a wrist shot from the right circle to give Los Angeles a win in its first of four regular-season games against Edmonton, which has knocked the Kings out of the playoffs for three straight seasons.
Warren Foegele had a goal and two assists, Tanner Jeannot also scored and the Kings won their sixth straight home game. Darcy Kuemper made 24 stops.
“The first thing I really wanted was the win and I was super proud of the guys for digging in the whole game,” Foegele said. “And obviously scoring against your former team, doesn’t matter how it goes in, it feels pretty special. You know the standings are so tight, so that was a massive win for this group and it’s obviously really good, beating your old team.”
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a power-play goal, with Kasperi Kapanen and Viktor Arvidsson also scoring for the Oilers, who had their three-game winning streak halted. Stuart Skinner made 24 saves.
The Kings retooled in the off-season, bringing in Foegele and Jeannot with the idea of matching the physicality the Oilers showed in last season’s five-game first round exit. Playing on a line with Byfield, they helped Los Angeles by combining for seven points and a plus-7 rating.
Takeaways
Oilers: Edmonton dropped points for just the fifth time in 21 games when leading after two periods, dropping to 16-2-3.
Kings: The penalty kill has been a glaring weakness in LA’s post-season losses to the Oilers. They gave Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and company just two chances in the game.
Key moment
Jeannot took the puck away from Evan Bouchard in overtime by overpowering him along the wall, giving Los Angeles possession for the first time and forcing McDavid and Draisaitl to tire themselves out on defence.
Key stat
McDavid and Draisaitl are each on 10-game point streaks. For McDavid, it is his 16th point streak of at least 10 games, which is second to Wayne Gretzky (31) in NHL history.
Up Next
Both teams are back in action Sunday, with the Oilers visiting Anaheim and the Kings hosting Philadelphia.