Struggling Kings routed by Oilers for 5th straight loss
LOS ANGELES — The Kings faced their tormentors on Thursday night only to be tortured once more, getting humiliated 8-1 by the Edmonton Oilers at Crypto.com Arena a night after they blew a lead against the Vegas Golden Knights’ B-team.
The Oilers had surrendered 22 goals in four straight regulation defeats. But the Kings were barely a speedbump for the team that eliminated them from in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs each of the past four years. Their worst loss of the season meant they gave up 13 goals across four periods and fell for the fifth straight game and sixth time in seven outings.
Former Oiler Warren Foegele scored the lone goal for the Kings. Darcy Kuemper started but gave up four goals on 15 shots before being relieved by Anton Forsberg, who fared no better and was in net for Wednesday’s collapse. Andrei Kuzmenko and Samuel Helenius both missed the game, while both Joel Armia and Drew Doughty departed and did not return Thursday.
Leon Draisaitl spearheaded Edmonton’s attack with a goal and three assists. Zach Hyman had a goal and two assists. Jake Walman deposited two goals. Connor McDavid, who crossed the 100-point threshold for the ninth season, and Andrew Mangiapane each contributed a goal and an assist. Vasily Podkolzin and Ty Emberson also scored. Matt Savoie chipped in two assists. Connor Ingram made 21 saves.
The Kings gave up the first two goals of the first period then were inundated with six unanswered goals in the second and third.
They conceded a pair just 54 seconds apart, at the 7:25 and 8:19 marks, before recouping a goal at 12:15.
Emberson turned spark to flame for the Oilers after he jumped into the play during a counterattack. His short-side strike from the right dot made it 1-0.
The Oilers narrowly stayed inside amid some commotion at the blue line during another counter that culminated in Podkolzin banking the puck off Kuemper and into the net.
Foegele found the net after some strong forechecking led to him tipping Joel Edmundson’s shot home for his seventh goal of the season. He has scored exactly one goal in each of the past three calendar months. Foegele has played just two February games, but logged a combined 25 in the previous two months.
He also got one of just three shots on goal during a four-minute Kings power play near the conclusion of the period. Two of those shots were slammed on net by Panarin as the penalty wound down.
The Kings unraveled completely in the middle frame, giving up three goals between the 2:59 and 8:44 marks.
Edmonton landed its third counterpunch of the night. Cody Ceci pinched hard into the right corner but got beat to the puck by Mattias Ekholm. That allowed Edmonton to dash off on a two-on-one rush, with Mangiapane keeping the puck and rifling it past Kuemper from the left circle.
McDavid’s goal – his 35th of the season – was a microcosm of the contest, as he circled the net and patiently pulled Kuemper wildly out of position, scoring easily despite the presence of Doughty, Mikey Anderson and Trevor Moore. Anderson dove in the slot to direct McDavid behind the net, while Doughty fell to the ice while battling with Hyman, who boxed out Moore.
Hyman then scored a goal of his own, on the power play, to make it 5-1 and welcome Forsberg to the party after he came on for Kuemper. Draisaitl’s snap shot ricocheted off Edmundson’s stick and then the end boards before finding the back of Hyman’s blade inside the paint.
That wasn’t the end of the Kings’ woes overall or shorthanded. Nine seconds into the third period, Jeff Malott took a cross-checking penalty. Edmundson’s gutsy block of Draisaitl’s shot while down four goals sent the Kings the other way shorthanded. But Quinton Byfield put the puck wide for the Oilers to collect, sending McDavid the other way with speed to make a drop pass for Draisaitl’s 30th goal of the season.
Walman tacked on the extra point and two-point conversion at 5:24 and 7:36, one-timing a blast off an offensive-zone faceoff win and later weaving his way to the net for a backhand goal.
Late in the game, the “Fire Hiller” chants directed at Kings coach Jim Hiller reached their highest volume and fervor yet this season.
The Kings next face the Calgary Flames and then welcome the NHL’s best team by record, the Colorado Avalanche.
More to come on this story.