In Edmonton, the Oilers’ Connor McDavid scored a shorthanded goal early in the third period, his 300th career NHL goal, to seal a 2-0 win over the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.
The push the Oilers ahead of LA for second in the Pacific Division.
“I thought we were patient all game; we talked about that, playing this group,” McDavid said. “It is going to be a patient game. They like to make it tough, and obviously we are comfortable in these games. I thought that was a really good message to send, not only to them, but to everyone that we can play that patient game and win.”
Stuart Skinner made 43 saves for the shutout.
“I thought he [Skinner] was amazing, I thought he was really, really good and made some big saves, especially in the second period, and coming down the stretch,” McDavid said. “I thought they did a good job of pressing and had a couple of chances, but he held us in.”
Edmonton trails the Vegas Golden Knights by two points for the top spot in the Pacific.
“That’s the type of game you have to play against this team, we know that,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. “We’ve seen a lot of them here over the last 14 or 15 months, and you have to have a lot of patience and endurance to your game. It’s understanding the way they want the game to be played and trying to negate some of their strengths and waiting for opportunities to present themselves without forcing anything.”
Evander Kane s scored with 52 seconds left in the first period to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead.
“I felt pretty good. I think confidence grows as the team is doing such a good job in front of me,” Skinner said. “I think for a full 60 minutes, we just battled hard. Being able to get the two points is massive. We were so hungry to win every battle and I think that was very impressive to watch, seeing our guys fight for every single puck, every 1-on-1 battle, every scrum in front of the net.”
LA dropped to 43-22-10 off their second straight loss.
“I thought it was a [heck] of a game, both teams played really hard and it came down to a bounce or a break or two, and they were able to score,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “We had some real good looks and we ran into a hot goaltender and didn’t quite get it over the goal line. But I thought it was a heck of game.”
Joonas Korpisalo made 35 saves in the Kings loss.
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