Connor McDavid scored the one objective of the evening because the Edmonton Oilers received their second sport in a row by beating their Pacific Division rival Los Angeles Kings 1-0 on Monday.
Stuart Skinner made 31 stops in internet to earn his second shutout of the season and sixth of his profession for the Oilers (27-13-3), who’ve received six of their final seven video games to maneuver forward of the Kings into second place within the Pacific. The Oilers are 4 factors behind the front-runner Vegas Golden Knights.
The Kings (24-12-5) have misplaced two straight on the heels of a five-game successful streak.
Darcy Kuemper recorded 29 saves within the loss for the Kings.
Los Angeles: Regardless of the loss, Kuemper has been large in internet for the Kings this season, coming into the sport with a 12-2-5 file with a stingy 2.16 GAA and .921 save proportion. He had earned no less than a degree in his 10 earlier appearances, simply the fourth goalie in franchise historical past to take action and the primary since Robb Stauber in 1992.
Oilers: Star ahead McDavid celebrated his twenty eighth birthday and ended up tied for third in NHL historical past for factors by the point he hit that age with Detroit Crimson Wings legend Steve Yzerman with 1,040 factors — though McDavid did so in 73 fewer video games. Solely Wayne Gretzky (1,773) and Mario Lemieux (1,174) had extra factors of their profession by the point they hit 28.
Edmonton lastly broke the scoreless impasse with 1:23 to play within the second interval as Leon Draisaitl received a race for the puck and took it behind the online earlier than feeding it in entrance to a pinching Darnell Nurse. Kuemper made the save on Nurse’s blast, however the rebound got here to McDavid and he deposited his seventeenth objective of the season into the Kings’ internet.
The Pacific Division has featured the NHL’s three hottest groups since Nov. 27, together with the 2 squads featured in Monday’s tilt. The Kings got here into the sport with a 13-3-2 file throughout that span for a successful proportion of .778. Edmonton has been an in depth second at 15-4-1 (.775). Sitting in third are the Vegas Golden Knights at 15-5-1 (.738).
Kings: Go to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
Oilers: Go to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.
