Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists in his return to the lineup as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 Sunday night.
McDavid had missed the last six games with a quad injury.
“We’ve struggled in this barn before, so it felt good to get out there and find a way to grab two points,” McDavid said, as the Oilers won for just the second time in their last 17 visits to Staples Centre.
LISTEN BELOW: Connor McDavid
The Oilers took the lead on the power play in the final minute of the first. After a Kings turnover, McDavid fed the puck to Leon Draisaitl, who pounded a one-timer right under the crossbar for his 36th of the season.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tipped a Caleb Jones point shot to make it 2-0 early in the second. Later, McDavid added another one to the highlight reel. He steamed down the right side, maneuvered the puck several times, then flipped a backhand past Calvin Petersen.
“They don’t make it easy — especially in their own rink — that’s for sure,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “But I think tonight we just stuck with it for the first period and battled for the whole 60, and got the job done at the end.”
LISTEN BELOW: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Anze Kopitar scored on a power play late in the second period, then Dustin Brown pulled the Kings within a goal 49 seconds into the third.
Josh Archibald sealed it with an empty net goal in the final minute.
During the third period, the Oilers announced they’d acquired defenceman Mike Green from the Detroit Red Wings. Green, 34, has 11 points in 48 games this season. The Oilers give up injured forward Kyle Brodziak and a conditional draft pick in 2020.
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Detroit is retaining half of Green’s salary in the deal. His cap hit is $5.375-million.
“You can never have enough defenceman. I know Mike Green from my days in Detroit. His strengths are his ability to skate and his ability to move the puck,” said Oilers general manager Ken Holland. “He’s a puck mover. He can play on the power play if it has to be.”
LISTEN BELOW: Oilers head coach Dave Tippett
The Oilers, 33-22-7, will visit Anaheim on Tuesday.
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