Kings take advantage of ailing Edmonton in shutout

LOS ANGELES — The Edmonton Oilers hobbled into Crypto.com Arena on Saturday afternoon and the Kings made sure that their tormentors from the past three postseasons limped out of the building as well.

They took a critical four-point clash, 3-0, from the team that eliminated them from three straight Stanley Cup playoffs and whom they would host in the first round this spring if the current standings hold.

“We’re used to those guys, obviously, and they’re used to us. We’ve played them enough over the past three years,” captain Anže Kopitar said. “With them having their two big boys out, they played hard and they had us working for everything. It’s good for us to get the win, but the way we played, too, I think we can take a lot of positives out of it.”

While the Kings were missing two fourth-liners, the Oilers were without two Hart Trophy winners, their top defenseman, their No. 1 goalie and more. Alex Turcotte and Tanner Jeannot were still out for the hosts, while the visitors had no Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm, Stuart Skinner, Evander Kane or John Klingberg. Deadline pickup Trent Frederic made his Oilers debut, and even that was precarious when he exited the game after just six seconds of ice time, though he did return.

The Kings took full advantage of the Oilers’ absences, creating a four-point cushion on Edmonton for second place in the Pacific Division. They also moved within just one point of division-leading Vegas ahead of the Golden Knights’ clash in Calgary with the Flames on Saturday night.

The Kings added to their franchise record for home wins as they continued their dominance downtown, particularly of top teams. They have lost just once to the other 11 teams in a firm playoff spot at Crypto.com Arena.

Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko each lit the lamp before Trevor Lewis slathered on an empty-netter. In his fifth shutout of 2024-25, Darcy Kuemper beat back 26 bids to make it 13 straight games with two goals or fewer allowed for the big Saskatonian, an NHL-best this season.

Calvin Pickard made 26 of 28 saves for Edmonton, which was shut out for the fifth time this season but for the first time since the calendar turned. The Oilers snapped a three-game winning streak.

It was a Kings’ formula win, one where congestion was heavy in the neutral zone, opportunities were few and a lead through 40 minutes was plenty, with the Kings going to 20-1-1 when leading after two periods at home and 31-1-2 overall.

“You take the two best players in the world out of our lineup, it is what it is. They’re the two best players in the world for a reason,” Oilers winger Corey Perry said. “They’re a good hockey team, they’re well-rehearsed, they play a structure, and they play it to the best of their ability.”

In the closing stanza, they had little more to do than bottle up any push from Edmonton, which they did successfully in preserving Kuemper’s shutout.

For good measure, Lewis, back in his familiar “closer” role that has frequently bumped him from the fourth line to the first late in games, pounced on a puck that eluded Jake Walman’s stick at the blue line, cruising ahead for an uncontested marker. With 2:57 to play, the game was officially in the refrigerator.

Early on, scoring chances went high, wide or awry thanks to bad bounces and good sticks, with the Kings’ seventh straight scoreless first period defensively also failing to produce a goal for themselves.

In the second period, they’d have to put two scores on the board just for one to count, but still ended up with a 2-0 lead at the second intermission thanks to the hot hand of Kuzmenko.

“We were very average in the first period, then we played very well in the second and third,” Coach Jim Hiller said.

Jeff Mallot, 28, appeared to have scored his first NHL goal in his seventh career game, and in spectacular fashion to excite the crowd. But his sweeping, airborne tally reminiscent of Bobby Orr’s “Flying V” goal was nullified by an Oilers challenge that the play was the result of an offside entry.

At the 9:20 and 16:08 marks, the Kings would deposit goals that counted unequivocally.

First, it was a recovery from an Edmonton foray that enabled Jordan Spence to key a counterattack with an outlet pass for Fiala. He found Alex Laferriere and then Laferriere’s rebound, settling the puck and sliding it past Pickard to cement Fiala’s second career 30-goal campaign and his first since 2021-22 with the Minnesota Wild.

“He hasn’t had the best season, and he’s sitting on 30 goals, that’s not easy to do. Right now, the way he’s playing, I couldn’t be happier with him,” Hiller said.

After some board work by Kopitar and the steadying of play by Drew Doughty, Adrian Kempe, who recorded his 200th career assist, found Kuzmenko above the right circle. He skated forward and let fly with a far-side strike that became his fifth goal and 11th point in his past nine games.

As massive as the win was for the Kings, they were measured in their assessments after the game, particularly in light of Edmonton’s decimated lineup.

“You’ve got to take it for what it is, they’ve got some key parts out of their lineup right now, but you never know what’s gonna happen in the playoffs [either],” Laferriere said. “Those guys could be [banged] up and not be able to play in some of those games. For us, it was just about showing our best, going out and not giving them much.”