|
 Left winger Tanner Pearson scored the go-ahead goal with 3:24 to
play, and the Kings extended their winning streak to five games with
a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night.
Defenseman Drew Doughty led the way with two assists for the Kings
(5-3-0). Centers Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar added goals.
The deciding goal came with Los Angeles on a power play. The puck
struck Oilers defender Andrej Sekera in front, and Pearson was there
to pounce on it.
"It felt pretty good to get one in the back of the net," Pearson
said of his goal, which came shortly after the Oilers tied the score
with 6:04 to play. "It's kind of building blocks, and hopefully it's
the start of a few more. I think (Doughty) shot it and it was kind
of loose. I just wanted to put it on net, and it just slid five
hole."
The goal was Pearson's first of the season.
"We switched things up and it was a big goal," Kings coach Darryl
Sutter said. "It was a power-play goal, and he's in the slot. It's a
dirty goal, that's what that was."
Left wingers Taylor Hall and Benoit Pouliot got the goals for the
Oilers (3-6-0), who lost their second game in a row.
"We didn't ultimately get an A-plus and the score that we needed to
put points in the bank, but we improved immensely in our play from
our last game," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "It was a
competitive night by our club against a team that has pushed it
before against Edmonton. Even at the end, we were using every second
that we had.
"There were a lot of positives in the game."
Edmonton tied the game 2-2 on a third-period power play as Hall
tipped in a pass by center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
After Pearson put Los Angeles in front, the Oilers believed they
tied it with 5.2 seconds remaining. A backhand from rookie center
Connor McDavid appeared to cross the goal line while in goalie
Jonathan Quick's glove, but a video review concluded that it was not
a goal.
"It's not the best feeling (waiting for call), but it's a good one
when they say no goal," Kopitar said. "It's a desperation,
world-class save by a world-class goaltender."
Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot said, "That was a tough call. It is a
fine line when it comes to seeing if it crosses the line or not when
it is in his glove. It is what it is. We didn't get it done
tonight."
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The Oilers opened the scoring at 4:42 of the first period. Pouliot
corralled a big rebound from a McDavid attempt and sent a shot past
Quick. Right winger Nail Yakupov picked up the other assist to
extend his point streak to five games.
The Kings didn't take long to knot the game again, however, getting
a goal just over a minute later. Carter was able to bank a shot from
behind the goal line and past Talbot for his third goal of the
season at 6:04.
Los Angeles went up by a goal with 6:24 remaining in the second
period as Kopitar beat Talbot up high for his third goal of the
season.
Edmonton played the remainder of the game without defenseman Justin
Schultz after he left the game with an unknown injury and did not
return to the lineup.
The Oilers came close early in the third, but Quick came across to
make the stop in tight on Nugent-Hopkins.
Quick finished with 26 saves, while Talbot stopped 31 shots.
NOTES: The meeting was the first of five games between the Pacific
Division rivals this season. The Kings won three of five against the
Oilers last season but lost both games played in Edmonton. ... C
Tyler Toffoli came into the game with six of the 13 goals the Kings
scored in their first seven games this season, but he was held
without a point Sunday. ... The Kings were without LW Dwight King
(foot) and D Matt Greene (upper body). ... Absent from the Oilers'
lineup were RW Jordan Eberle (shoulder), C Matt Hendricks (foot) and
D Griffin Reinhart (undisclosed). ... RW Iiro Pakarinen made his
season debut for the Oilers after being called up from AHL
Bakersfield on Thursday. He took the place of LW Anton Slepyshev.
... The Kings are in Winnipeg to face the Jets on Tuesday. ... The
Oilers also return to action that night, traveling to Minnesota to
play the Wild.
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