In Los Angeles, Connor McDavid returned to the lineup for the Edmonton Oilers and popped in a goal and added two assists in a 4-2 win over the Kings on Sunday night.
“I felt a little awkward at first but settled in as game went on,” McDavid said. “I think timing is the main thing. The game can feel a little bit weird when you’ve been sitting out for a bit.”
Mike Smith made 21 saves to get the win.
The Oilers broke out to a 3-0 lead before Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown got the Kings close at 3-2.
“I thought we had some good moments,” Los Angeles head coach Todd McLellan said. “The negatives were the outnumbered rushes that we gave up to their two top players (McDavid and Draisaitl). We really tried to focus on that before the game.”
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl also scored for the Oilers in building the three-goal advantage.
“We had two or three 2-on-1s that kind of worked out the exact same way right before that, so I thought [Kings defenseman Drew Doughty] might go and stand with [Oilers forward] Sam [Gagner], and it just gave me a chance to make a move,” McDavid said.
Josh Archibald sealed the win with an empty net goal with less than a minute left on the clock.
“Of course it’s great having him (McDavid) back,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “You see the plays he makes and he’s just so dangerous every time he touches the puck, and every team knows that. It’s no secret, [yet] he still goes in and does it every night. For him to play like that in his first game back, it’s more than impressive.”
[WATCH: All Oilers vs. Kings highlights]
Calvin Petersen made 27 saves in the loss.
“The commitment to playing to the end and playing hard was a positive, which we’ve had all year,” McLellan said.
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