Dustin Brown had a hat trick to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers Sunday night.
“We made big errors,” head coach Ken Hitchcock said after the game. “We gave up a breakaway. We gave up three two on ones.”
LISTEN BELOW: Ken Hitchcock
Eight minutes into the game, Anze Kopitar stepped around Oilers defenceman Chris Wideman and set up Brown for a tap-in goal. Alex Chiasson tied it on the power play, deflecting in a pass from Connor McDavid. It was Chiasson’s ninth goal of the season, matching his total from all of last year.
“I think we’ve learned a lot the last three games,” Chiasson said. “But it’s on us to make sure the effort is there for longer during the game.”
LISTEN BELOW: Alex Chiasson
Chiasson struck again early in the second period, but Brown came right back with a power play goal to knot it at two.
Anze Kopitar snuck in behind the Oilers defence for a breakaway and beat Cam Talbot to put the Kings ahead four-and-a-half minutes into the third. The Oilers ramped up the pressure as the third went on but couldn’t pull even. With McDavid in the penalty box late in the game, Brown scored into an empty net to complete the hat trick. Matt Luff added another empty net goal to round out the scoring.
Calvin Petersen made 32 saves for the win. Talbot stopped 27 pucks as his personal losing streak extended to six games.
“I thought we did a lot of good things early and it’s kind of just one mistake that cost us and, ultimately, we couldn’t get it back,” McDavid said.
LISTEN BELOW: Connor McDavid
The Oilers, 10-11-2, will host Dallas on Tuesday.