In Los Angeles, interim coach Jim Hiller, won his first game behind the Kings bench on Saturday night, 4-0 shut out of the visiting Edmonton Oilers.
“We’ve had a tough stretch, so we’re just trying to get back to where we were,” Hiller said. “This isn’t about necessarily [doing anything] new. It’s just getting back there, and tonight was a good step.”
David Rittich made 26 saves in the win.
The Kings moved to 24-15-10.
“Jimmy came in here, he’s only had two practices with us, but he showed great leadership as a coach,” LA’s Quinton Byfield said. “As you saw out there, we’re playing for each other.”
There was a Pierre-Luc Dubois sighting in LA, he scored at 2:38 of the middle frame to give the Kings a 1-0 lad.
“The coaching staff here, first day I got back, they challenged me to be a better player out there and to be a difference-maker,” Dubois said. “That can come scoring goals, assists, but it could also come from hits, drawing penalties, all of the things that not everybody notices.”
Trevor Lewis pushed the lad to 2-0 just 48 seconds later with a strike off an odd man rush.
The Oilers dropped to 30-17-1.
“I thought against Vegas we played solid (a 3-1 loss on Tuesday), last night we battled (a 5-3 win at the Anaheim Ducks),” Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “We have to find it again, no excuses, and we have to get the second half rolling.”
Byfield hit for a double in the third period.
His first came at 7:06 for a 3-0 advantage to LA.
“I think every night I just try to go out there, work as hard as I can, be effective any which way I can,” Byfield said. “Points come, they come, but the most important thing is wins.”
Byfield collected his double when he hit an empty net with less than three minutes left on the clock for the 4-0 final.
“It’s all about confidence,” Byfield said. “It’s been building the whole year. When you got it going, you kind of know you’ve got it going, and it feels nice. Just being able to be patient, see plays with the puck and be able to know I can make those plays is important for me.”
Stuart Skinner made 22 saves in the loss.
“This was probably one of those games that we were finding ways to win during this streak, and tonight there just wasn’t enough,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “A lot of credit to L.A. Their goaltender played really well.”
At the end of the game, the Kings attempted to collect the puck for Hiller, for his first win, but the Oilers made efforts to keep the disk from the Kings. A referee managed to make things right at the end.
On a night of sore losers, the Oilers took the low road.
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