McDavid Nets 2, Grabs Scoring Lead As Oilers Beat Kings 3-2
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid had two goals to take over the NHL scoring lead, and the Edmonton Oilers held off the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Saturday night for their third straight victory.
Pontus Aberg also scored for the Oilers, who are 4-1-1 in their last six games. During that span, however, they were eliminated from the playoff race.
Jake Muzzin and Jeff Carter had the goals for the Kings, who have lost two of three. Los Angeles remained tied with idle Anaheim for third place in the Pacific Division.
The Oilers started the scoring 45 seconds into the first period when Aberg hooked a puck from behind the net past surprised Kings goalie Jonathan Quick for his sixth point in the last three games.
Edmonton made it 2-0 with 4:28 left in the period when McDavid had a strong second effort to bang his own rebound under Quick's stick for his 37th goal of the season.
However, the Kings bounced back just 28 seconds later when Muzzin cleanly beat Oilers goalie Cam Talbot with a shot from the slot.
The Oilers regained their two-goal advantage four minutes into the second when McDavid sent a shot through Quick's legs on a partial breakaway. The goal gave McDavid the NHL scoring lead with 96 points, moving him ahead of Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov.
The Kings got that goal back a couple of minutes later when Tobias Rieder made a long feed to Carter, who scored at the side of the net.
Talbot made a huge stop on a short-handed breakaway by Nate Thompson early in the third and withstood some late pressure to preserve the win.
NOTES: The teams split their four-game season series. ... Out with injuries for the Oilers were Oscar Klefbom (shoulder surgery), Michael Cammalleri (undisclosed) and Zack Kassian (undisclosed).
UP NEXT
Kings: Return home to play Calgary on Monday.
Oilers: Stay home to face Anaheim on Sunday.
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