GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Kings 2

EDMONTON, AB – Defenceman Evan Bouchard scored the game-winner 1:25 into the third period, and goaltender Stuart Skinner had a strong night by making 38 saves on Monday to help the Oilers pick up two important points in the Pacific Division Playoff race with a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

Bouchard ended the night with a goal and assist along with Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, while captain Connor McDavid added two assists to extend his home point streak to 23 games (10G, 42A), including 22 assists in his last eight contests.

Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark each had lone helpers in the victory that ends a three-game losing streak for the Blue & Orange and maintains their third-place position in the Pacific ahead of the Kings, who received goals from Trevor Moore and Alex Laferriere in the losing effort.

"I think we've got to have a better start, but against those guys, you've got to be patient," Bouchard said. "They're a team that we've seen a lot of the past few seasons. The divisional games are always big, so that was a good one for us."

Edmonton wraps up their five-game homestand on Wednesday night with a visit from the St. Louis Blues to Rogers Place.

FIRST PERIOD

Maybe Connor McDavid really wasn't kidding.

The Oilers captain joked after the pre-game skate on Monday morning when asked by the media about his incredible 21 assists but lack of any goals over his last nine games, saying that he wasn't going to shoot anymore and try and see how many assists he could get.

But in reality, all we need to do is trust the captain's decision-making, and when the fans inside Rogers Place were yelling "Shoooot!" on a wide-open look for the League's assist leader late in the first period, we were once again reminded why he's the one making the plays out there and not us.

"I saw that today and I was like, 'I thought he had scored, for sure,' defenceman Mattias Ekholm said. "I think he's just that impactful. It doesn't really matter whether he gets the goal or the assist – he's usually the one that sets it up or usually the one that does it for us.

"So to me, to see that he hasn't scored in a while was kind of shocking because I think he's been great. He's obviously our leader in here and he shows it every night. He leads by example. I've just been even more impressed with his defensive detail this year, so I think he's playing a great game and we just want to have him keep going. Scoring goals or not, he's playing great."

The Oilers were looking like they'd enter the first intermission down one 1-0 off Trevor Moore's opening goal 6:45 into the first period until the Kings committed a turnover in their own zone, leaving McDavid with a glorious chance to shoot as he stared down David Rittich in the LA's crease.

McDavid had his regular linemate Hyman in a holding position inside the left circle awaiting a potential pass, and in typical recent fashion for No. 97, he elected to set up his teammate rather than make the shot. The decision paid off handsomely, as Edmonton's leading goalscorer was able to fire his effort past a sliding Rittich to make it 1-1 with just 22.6 seconds on the clock in the first frame.

Hyman's equalizer was his 38th goal of the campaign, while McDavid picked up his 22nd assist in his last 10 games, extending his lengthy home point streak to 23 games totalling 12 goals and 41 assists.

SECOND PERIOD

After the penalty kill came up with a critical stop on a two-man advantage for Los Angeles, the moment would prove even more vital a few minutes later when Edmonton's top power-play unit went to work for the first time on Monday night.

Alex Laferriere beat Skinner over the glove from the slot just over seven-and-a-half minutes into the middle frame after Bouchard stepped up to try and take the puck off defenceman Mathieu Roy's stick, evading the Oilers blueliner and backhanding a pass to Laferriere to bury his chance and return the Kings to a one-goal lead.

The visitors had the opportunity then to extend their advantage with 24 seconds of time on a five-on-three power play, which required the Oilers penalty-kill unit to come up with a massive stop with their team trailing by a goal.

Stuart Skinner made key stops on Kings leading scorer Adrian Kempe and centre Anze Kopitar to allow the Oilers to escape the five-on-three before the penalty kill finished off the final 1:36 of shorthanded time, drawing a huge ovation from the crowd at Rogers Place for keeping the Oilers within striking distance just past the period's midway mark.

"It definitely gave us some life," Nugent-Hopkins added. "Five-on-threes are tough to kill off. You need some big saves, you need some big plays, and then, you've got to make sure that you're coming back at them after that. I thought we did a great job of that."

"That was the difference of the game; the turning point," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "We were down 2-1, and if we don't get a kill there we're down two. It makes it really difficult to come back. Skins made some big saves and our guys made some big plays on that kill, and then, we were able to obviously score a power-play goal."

The Oilers went to their first power play of the night almost four minutes later, and the power play made quick work of it just 17 seconds into the man advantage when Leon Draisaitl put away Evan Bouchard's shot-pass from the point to make it 29 goals for No. 29 this season.

"It was kind of something that was just there," Bouchard said. "They took the flanks away, left the middle open, and Leo made a great tip."

The German is now one goal shy of recording his seventh straight 30-goal season with the Blue & Orange after making it 2-2 before the second intermission.

THIRD PERIOD

In the final frame, the Oilers scored early to give themselves their first lead of the night that they never relinquished.

Evan Bouchard took a pass from Draisaitl and unleashed a blast from the top of the LA zone that struck the crossbar and went bar down inside the first two minutes of the third period, lifting Edmonton into a 3-2 lead on the defenceman's 15th goal of the season that ties Calgary's MacKenzie Weegar for the NHL lead for goals from the blueline.

"I think the accuracy is the thing that stands out," Ekholm said of Bouchard. "Obviously he can really get velocity on them and he shoots it really hard, but I do think if you look at the goal tonight, it's the top corner that's picked and that's where he puts them. I think that's really what stands out. It seems effortless, but every time he gets an opportunity, he goes for the top corner and he usually hits them."

Draisaitl recorded the primary helper on Bouchard's go-ahead goal, while McDavid's secondary contribution was his 70th assist of the season and 23rd in his last 10 contests.

The Oilers avoided any extra stress for themselves in the final few minutes by adding insurance through Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on a quick rush up ice that was started behind the net by Edmonton's own netminder, throwing a pass to Brett Kulak in the corner to start the fast breakout.

Nugent-Hopkins and Brown crossed over the LA blueline in full stride, and with the puck on Brown's blade, the winger feathered a pass behind the Kings' last defenceman Gavrikov, who watched on as No. 93 got a slight touch to a bouncing puck with his left skate to put it past Rittich for the 4-2 lead with 3:29 left in regulation.

"It was great," Nugent-Hopkins said of Brown's pass. "I just tried to drop it to him and he saw me open, and he's really patient with the puck and can make some great plays."

The assist was Brown's first point in 11 games, helping Edmonton create some breathing room in the final minutes of the third period before seeing out the two-goal victory and the two points over the Kings.

"I think this is more the recipe that we're looking for," Ekholm said. "I thought the third was outstanding from our group. I thought were patient. I thought we played really poised when we had to. I thought we played good defence. It's nice to get that goal early, kind of get them out of their structure a little bit and knowing that they to go a little bit, but I thought we handled it really well.

"And I thought for the 60-minute game, and we haven't had too many of them as of late, this was as close as we have gotten."