FINAL – Kings 2, Oilers 4 – Moore, Kopitar, Hiller

The LA Kings began a three-game roadtrip in Western Canada on the wrong side of a 4-2 defeat against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday evening at Rogers Place.

The Kings opened the scoring off a faceoff win in the offensive zone, with forward Trevor Moore burying his 22nd goal of the season. Forward Pierre-Luc Dubois won the draw, with the puck working its way to defenseman Andreas Englund at the right point. Englund’s shot missed the net, but forward Quinton Byfield corralled it and slid it through the slot to Moore, who beat Edmonton netminder Stuart Skinner for the 1-0 advantage.

With fewer than 30 seconds to play in the first period, the Oilers tied the game through forward Zach Hyman. Off a turnover in the defensive zone by the Kings, forward Connor McDavid worked his way into the slot, looked off the shot and fed Hyman in the left-hand circle, where he one-timed home his team-leading 38th goal of the season to tie the game at one heading into the first intermission.

The visitors once again pulled ahead within the first eight minutes of a period, taking a 2-1 lead midway through the second. Defenseman Matt Roy danced his way across the offensive blueline with a nice move inside of Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard. Roy then worked the puck to forward Anze Kopitar, who fed linemate Alex Laferriere at the back post for the goal, his eighth of the season.

Edmonton once again pulled level, however, as they cashed in on their first power play of the evening to send the game into the second intermission knotted at two. Stationed at the center point, defenseman Evan Bouchard sent a soft shot into the slot, with forward Leon Draisaitl on hand for the high deflection, his 29th goal of the season, for the 2-2 scoreline.

Less than two minutes into the third period, the Oilers pulled ahead for the first time on the evening through Bouchard. Draisaitl fed a pass across the offensive blueline to Bouchard, who one timed it through a Hyman screen for his 15th goal of the season. Draisaitl and McDavid tallied the assists on the play, as the Oilers took a 3-2 advantage.

Inside four minutes to play in the third period, coming off a pair of successful penalty kills, the Oilers found the insurance goal through forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Attacking off the rush, Nugent-Hopkins and forward Connor Brown executed a give-and-go, with the former finishing at the back post for his team’s fourth goal of the night.

Hear from Moore, Kopitar and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s game.

Trevor Moore

Anze Kopitar
On the moment in the game he felt cost the Kings tonight
There’s just moments in the game, where we have a power play and we’re trying to get up 3-1, that could have been a big difference for us and we weren’t able to score. On the flip side, they get a power-play goal, about 10 seconds into their power play. When you get a 5-on-3 or a 5-on-4, you’ve got to make the most of it and we didn’t.

On giving up the goal early in the third, erasing a strong opening 40 minutes
Yeah, it’s a good shot from the point, really I should have been better in the lane and kind of discouraged that shot but nonetheless, there’s still 19 minutes left in the game that you can come back. We didn’t create as much we wanted and didn’t spend enough time in their zone.

On his focus when playing against high-level opposition such as Edmonton’s top forwards
Limit time and space. Very rarely are you going to shut them down, but you’ve got to try and contain them the best you can. For the most part, we were able to do it, but like I said, in key moments in the game, we didn’t do it. The result was there.

On Alex Laferriere scoring tonight and how he’s fit onto his line
It’s more of reading, reacting versus thinking now, which is obviously a good sign. We all know it takes a little bit of time for him to get adjusted, for me and Juice to get adjusted, but it seemed like we found our stride and we’re getting close to a line and making plays that we want to.

Jim Hiller
On the 5-on-3 tonight and how he felt that impacted the game
We had two great looks coming down the pike, on the 5-on-3, to make it 3-1. So, you look for a turning point, that was probably it for me. I’d have to see some of the other stuff, but I knew we had those two great looks, one for Kempe, one for Kopitar, that might have made a difference.

On the play in the first 40 minutes and if that made the early goal in the third that much more deflating
I thought we played hard, we used a lot of energy. First two periods, we didn’t give them much at all. A little bit sloppy to start the third, we all saw that, they had a nice goal to get in front of the net, shoot it, fairly simple, but good execution by them. Then we treid, we tried at the end, the goalie made some saves, I thought Skinner played really well the second half of the game.

On the team’s 5-on-5 play tonight
I thought we played really well as far as rush chances, certainly through two they didn’t have much. We got a little sloppy, like I said, had a couple of rush chances and Edmonton is a team that creates off the rush for sure, so that was our game plan, make sure not to let them have rush chances. We did a pretty good job executing, it’s just getting that getting that next goal. Often times it comes down to that. If you can stretch them out for one more, it makes it tough. They were able to capitalize on their chances, we weren’t at the end.

On putting Trevor Moore with Dubois and Byfield on his goal
Trevor had missed his shift, the shift before Laf got caught out there on a long shift, so [Moore] was fresh. We took the opportunity to get him out there while he was fresh because he missed a shift.

On Jacob Moverare night, in his first game back in the lineup
I thought he was good, he’s defended well and that’s what he does best. I thought maybe with the puck he was at an AHL pace versus one of the fastest teams in the NHL, and that’ll come with a little bit of time, but he defended really well, that’s what he’s known for it. It was pretty good showing for the first night.

On an update on forward Adrian Kempe, who left the game in the third period
I don’t have one, obviously he didn’t finish the game. I’ll have to wait and talk to [Athletic Trainer Chris Kingsley] later, but for him not to finish, it means that something’s not right, because it was a big moment.

Notes –
– Trevor Moore (1-0=1) scored his team-leading 22nd goal of the season. Moore has now scored four goals in his last three road games (4-0=4) against the Oilers, dating back to Nov. 16, 2022, and has recorded eight points (5-3=8) over his last seven games against Edmonton overall.
– Rookie forward Alex Laferriere (1-0=1) notched his eighth goal of the season. Laferriere’s goal marked the 35th instance in Kings history that a skater aged 21 or younger has scored at least eight goals in a season. Laferriere and Quinton Byfield (18G) are the first Kings duo 21-or-younger to notch eight goals in the same season since Austin Wagner (12G) and Matt Luff (8G) in 2018-19.
– Quinton Byfield (0-1=1) and Andreas Englund (0-1=1) assisted on Moore’s opening score, good for Byfield’s 25th and Englund’s eighth respective assists on the season. Byfield’s helper extends his point streak against the Oilers to a third game (2-3=5), dating back to Dec. 30, 2023. With his assist, Byfield becomes the 14th different skater in franchise history 21 years of age or younger to record a three-game point streak against the Oilers and the first to do so since Adrian Kempe (3GP, 2-1=3; Jan. 2 – Feb. 24, 2018).
– Anže Kopitar (0-1=1) recorded his 30th helper of the season, marking the 18th consecutive season that Kopitar has hit the 30-assist plateau, a franchise record. Kopitar is the 14th player in NHL history to have 18 seasons with 30 assists or more.
– The assist was the 354th road helper of Kopitar’s career, breaking a tie with Mats Sundin (453) for sole possession of 40th-most in NHL history. Kopitar’s 27 career road assists against Edmonton are tied with Bernie Nicholls for the second-most against the Oilers in franchise history, trailing only Dave Taylor (29). Tonight, Kopitar skated in his 1,349th career game, tying Kirk Muller for 55th-most in league history.
– Matt Roy (0-1=1) picked up his 14th assist of the season to move him two points shy (22-76=98) of 100 in his career.

The Kings are not scheduled to hold a morning skate tomorrow in Calgary. The team will return to the ice tomorrow at 6 PM Pacific, 7 PM local against the Flames.

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