LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Kings returned to their hard forechecking ways and got a needed win.
Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking short-handed goal midway through the second period and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-2.
READ MORE: Edmonton Oilers dominated by Ducks in Anaheim, lose 4th straight game
Derek Forbort and Tyler Toffoli each had a goal and an assist and Devin Setoguchi and also scored for Los Angeles. Peter Budaj made 26 saves.
After going winless in their last four games on the road, the Kings returned to Staples Center and found the key piece of their game that had eluded them on the road.
“For us, it’s the read, shutting down and getting in on the forecheck,” Setoguchi said. “When we forecheck well, that’s usually when we create our opportunities.”
Darnell Nurse and Oscar Klefbom scored for the Oilers, who have now lost five straight games to fall to 2-7-1 since starting 7-1-0. Jonas Gustavsson made 21 saves.
Oilers coach Todd McLellan said Carter’s short-handed goal hurt the most but Edmonton was ultimately doomed by another slow start.
READ MORE: Top 5 reasons the Edmonton Oilers are off to best start in over 30 years
“It seems to vary from night to night positionally,” McLellan said. “Whether it’s a D-man with a turnover, the forwards coughing something up and not getting in position at the right time. It’s certainly something we’re aware of, we’re concerned with and trying to fix.”
Trailing 2-0 after the first period, the Oilers scored twice in the second to tie it before Carter scored at 9:06 of the middle period.
Nurse made it 2-1 with a shot off the crossbar 3:44 into the second. A little under five minutes later, Klefbom tied it when he caught a pass in the slot and lifted an impressive backhand shot off the crossbar and behind Budaj.
But just 34 seconds later, Carter won a faceoff and Toffoli led a 2-on-1 rush that resulted in Carter’s game-winner.
“We didn’t get the save, but there were other mistakes on it,” McLellan said.
“I thought it sucked the life out of us for a little bit.”
Setoguchi scored off a rebound with 6:45 left to play to make it 4-2, his third goal this season and third since the 2013-14.
“I didn’t think we were that good in the first couple of periods,” Setoguchi said. “Then, in the third we had a couple good shifts back-to-back and we were able to score on one.”
Forbort scored his first goal of the season to put the Kings on the board 5:09 into the game. Toffoli then gave Los Angeles a 2-0 lead a few minutes later when he tapped in a centring pass from Carter.
“There was a bunch of traffic down there, (Kyle) Clifford made a good play and I was lucky it went in,” Forbort said. ”
NOTES: Kings C Anze Kopitar remained out for the third straight game with an upper-body injury. . Kings D Matt Greene was a healthy scratch. . Oilers D Dillon Simpson and C Anton Lander was a healthy scratch. . Forbort had his second multipoint game of the season and his career. . Carter had his team-high fourth multipoint game. . The Kings extended their home winning streak against the Oilers to 10 games. They haven’t lost to Edmonton at Staples Center since Nov. 3, 2011.
UP NEXT
Oilers: At Dallas on Saturday in the finale of a three-game trip.
Kings: Host New Jersey on Saturday.
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