Edmonton Oilers centre Connor McDavid and LA Kings center Anze Kopitar battle for the puck in the first period at Crypto.com Arena. The Oilers won 5-2 on Feb. 15, 2022.Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Kailer Yamamoto scored the tiebreaking goal with 4:46 left and the Edmonton Oilers remained undefeated under new coach Jay Woodcroft with a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.
Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had a goal for the Oilers, who are 3-0-0 since Woodcroft replaced Dave Tippett last Thursday. Zach Hyman and Evander Kane added empty-net goals, and Mike Smith made 30 saves.
Phillip Danault and Arthur Kaliyev scored for the Kings, who had their six-game point streak snapped. Cal Petersen allowed three goals on 27 shots.
Yamamoto was at the front of the crease to capitalize after Leon Draisaitl took the puck from Matt Roy following Petersen’s indecision, continuing the Oilers’ recent turnaround. They moved one point ahead of the Kings for third place in the Pacific Division.
Danault scored with 8:18 left in the third period to tie it 2-all, finishing off Viktor Arvidsson’s centring pass from behind the net and cancelling out Nugent-Hopkins’ seventh goal at 7:44 that gave Edmonton its first lead.
McDavid tied it 1-all late in the second on his 25th goal. There was a lengthy conversation among the officials on the ice about whether it should count before determining the reason Jesse Puljujarvi made contact with Petersen was because Kings defenceman Mikey Anderson pushed him into the goalie.
Despite not playing since Feb. 2, the Kings held a 1-0 lead coming out of the first period on Kaliyev’s ninth goal, a soft chip from the right circle that inexplicably beat Smith at the near post. It was Kaliyev’s second straight game scoring, having also found the back of the net in a 5-3 win at Detroit prior to the All-Star break.
Notes
McDavid has two goals and three assists during a four-game point streak. He scored for the second straight game. The Oilers dressed 11 forwards and seven defencemen for the second consecutive game. They also used the alignment in a 3-0 win at San Jose on Monday. Kane received a roughing penalty for punching Kings forward and noted agitator Brendan Lemieux late in the second period.
UP NEXT
Oilers: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.
Kings: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night.