The Edmonton Oilers won their fourth straight game on Saturday (Dec. 30), defeating the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 at Crypto.com Arena.
Oilers forward Derek Ryan scored the deciding goal in the shootout, after five minutes of overtime concluded with the teams deadlocked at two goals apiece.
Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid each had a goal for the Oilers, who came back from a 2-0 deficit. Los Angeles had jumped to an early two-goal lead with first-period goals from Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe.
Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner made 26 saves to outduel Kings’ netminder Cam Talbot, who stopped 24 shots by his former team.
Edmonton improved to 17-15-1 this season. With 35 points, the Oilers are currently five back of the Arizona Coyotes for the Western Conference’s second Wild Card playoff position.
Oilers Make a Statement
With 15 wins in their last 21 games, the Oilers are as hot as any team in the NHL. And now they have road wins in the last eight days over the team with the best points percentage in each conference.
In their final game before Christmas, on Dec. 22, the Oilers went into Madison Square Garden and beat the New York Rangers, who sit atop the Eastern Conference standings, by a score of 4-3. Two games later, on Saturday, Edmonton knocked off a Kings team that had 45 points in their first 32 games for a percentage of .703, tops in the Western Conference.
The Oilers continue to be a nightmare for the Kings, who Edmonton eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in both 2022 and 2023. Edmonton has won 13 of its last 18 regular season meetings with the Kings and is 9-3 in its last 12 games at Crypto.com Arena, combining playoffs and regular season.
This was just the first of four games pitting Edmonton against the Kings in 2023-24. The teams will next square off on Feb. 10 in Los Angeles.
Another Comeback Win for Oilers
In their last 20 games, the Oilers have given up the game’s first goal nine times but have rallied to win six of those games.
Saturday was the latest occasion, with Edmonton digging itself out of a 0-2 hole after a dreadful first period, which saw the Kings hold an 11-2 edge in shots. The second period was a complete turnaround, as the Oilers outshot Los Angeles 13-7, with McDavid scoring on the power-play at 5:35 and Draisaitl tying the game at 15:29. Edmonton’s win was its first of 2023-24 after falling behind 2-0.
Over the last seven weeks, Edmonton has a win percentage of .667 when trailing first, which is the highest in the NHL over that span.
Ryan Surprises in the Shootout
Each team was successful on two of its first three attempts in the shootout; McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tallied for Edmonton, while Kempe and Travis Moore scored for the Kings. Draisaitl and Kings winger Carl Grundstrom had their attempts saved.
After Skinner stopped Anze Kopitar on Los Angeles’ fourth attempt, a surprise shooter stepped onto the ice with a chance to win the game for Edmonton.
It was only the fifth career shootout attempt for Ryan, who came into the game ¼ in the skills contest, including 0/1 with the Oilers. Ryan converted the opportunity for his first shootout goal since the veteran forward was a member of the Calgary Flames in 2019-20.
“I just tried to settle it down a little bit, make my reads, and go through my checklist on the way in and found a hole,” Ryan said, explaining his shootout goal while talking to media following the game.
Draisaitl and McDavid Lead the Way
This was the seventh time this season that both Draisaitl and McDavid have scored in the same game for Edmonton. The Oilers lost the first of those games but have since won six straight when both of their superstars light the lamp.
The Dynamic Duo had been relatively quiet in the prior three wins for Edmonton, combining to score only three of the Oilers’ 15 total goals from those games.
Depth scoring has been one of the most encouraging recent developments for Edmonton. But on Saturday, the Oilers needed their stars to be stars, and Draisaitl and McDavid were just that.
Oilers Set to Battle the Ducks
Saturday’s win gives the Oilers a chance to say goodbye to 2023 with five consecutive wins, as Edmonton concludes its stretch of six consecutive road games by taking on the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center on Sunday (Dec. 31).
Related: Oilers Enter Tough Stretch of 6 Straight Road Games to End Year
The Oilers blitzed Anaheim 8-2 at Rogers Place on Nov. 26 and have a record of 15-4-3 against the Ducks since December 2016. Anaheim is struggling mightily, with only four wins in its last 20 games.
But while this seems like a slam-dunk victory for the Oilers, they need to overcome their New Year’s Eve curse, which has seen Edmonton win just one of its last 20 games on Dec. 31.