Kopitar, Lewis Lead Kings Past Oilers, 5-2, To Break Skid
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Anze Kopitar and Trevor Lewis each had a goal and two assists as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 5-2, on Tuesday night.
Matt Greene, Jeff Carter and Kyle Clifford also scored for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who snapped a three-game skid that came on the heels of an eight-game winning streak.
Luke Gazdic and Teddy Purcell had the goals for the Oilers, who have lost four of five.
The Kings are 8-0-1 in their last nine games against Edmonton.
Los Angeles got on the board 9 minutes into the opening period on its 10th shot of the game as Greene hammered a drive from the point past Oilers starter Ben Scrivens.
The Kings made it 2-0 in the final minute of the first when a bad pass by Benoit Pouliot turned into a 2-on-1 the other way, with Lewis converting on a pass from Kopitar.
Los Angeles added a short-handed goal early in the second, when Carter stretched out on the fly to tip a pass with one hand on his stick past Scrivens.
Edmonton got back into the game with 7 minutes left in the period as Gazdic tipped Jordan Oesterle's shot past Jonathan Quick.
Los Angeles made it 4-1 with 3 minutes left in the second when a bad rebound led to a scramble in front of Scrivens and a goal by Clifford.
The Kings went up by four 26 seconds into the third. Kopitar's shot deflected off defender Justin Schultz and in for his first goal in seven games.
The Oilers cut the margin to 5-2 on the power play 5 minutes into the third on a chip-shot goal from Purcell.
Quick made 21 saves for the win. Scrivens turned away 24 shots in defeat.
NOTES: The Kings return home to face Montreal on Thursday. ... The Oilers begin a five-game road trip in Chicago on Friday. ... Edmonton is pretty banged up at the moment with Tyler Pitlick (lacerated spleen), Taylor Hall (leg), Nikita Nikitin (shoulder), Viktor Fasth (knee), Anton Lander (shoulder) and Iiro Pakarinen (knee) out with injuries. ... The Kings were without Alec Martinez (concussion). ... Darryl Sutter coached his 1,102nd game, tying Billy Reay for 16th overall in NHL history.
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