FINAL – Kings 4, Oilers 3 (OT) – Byfield, Foegele, Hiller

The LA Kings came out of the holiday break in thrilling fashion, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in overtime for their first overtime victory of the season, on Saturday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena.

Edmonton opened the scoring midway through the first period, with forward Kasperi Kapanen burying the first goal of the afternoon. Forward Connor Brown worked down the right wing and his shot on goal was turned aside by Kings netminder Darcy Kuemper, but the rebound went straight into the path of Kapanen, who scored his fifth goal of the season for a 1-0 lead.

The Kings surged back before the end of the first period to flip the script, taking a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

First, forward Quinton Byfield tied the game at one with a nice play in tight space. Working off the wall, out of the corner, Byfield drove towards the front of the net, got the puck on his forehand and finished bardown from just outside the crease for his seventh goal of the season. Forward Warren Foegele and defenseman Brandt Clarke tallied the assists on the play, Foegele’s tenth of the season.

Inside the final three minutes of the first period, Foegele put the Kings ahead for the first time, capitalizing on a hardworking shift in the offensive zone. Foegele first fed defenseman Jordan Spence, who sent a shot into traffic, with Foegele driving the low slot and poking the puck off an Edmonton defenseman and in for a multi-point game and his tenth goal of the season.

The Oilers scored twice in the second period to take a 3-2 lead through 40 minutes of play.

First, Edmonton scored on its first power play of the game, with forward Connor McDavid feeding forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins through the slot, with the latter burying on the glove side to tie the game at two. Later in the middle stanza, forward Viktor Arvidsson scored in his first game back at Crypto.com Arena, as the Oilers capitalized off a turnover from Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, with Arvidsson ultimately finishing the play to take the lead.

Inside the first three minutes of the third period, the Kings tied the game, with the Foegele/Byfield/Jeannot line contributing once again. Foegele was the catalyst off the rush, gaining the offensive blue line with control, before dishing to defenseman Jordan Spence. Spence made the incisive final pass, finding forward Tanner Jeannot at the back post for his fifth goal of the season and a tie game.

After a back-and-forth overtime session, the Kings broke through for the first time this season, collecting the second point via Byfield’s second goal of the afternoon. Off a drop pass from forward Phillip Danault, Byfield made a decisive move to his forehand, took the puck into the slot and beat Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner on the glove side for a three-point game and a 4-3 Kings victory.

Hear from Byfield, Foegele and Head Coach Jim Hiller following today’s game.

Quinton Byfield

Warren Foegele
On getting such a big win in his first game against Edmonton this season
The first thing I really wanted was the win and I’m super proud of the guys for digging in the whole game. Obviously scoring against your former team, doesn’t matter how it goes in, it feels pretty special. The standings are so tight, so that was a massive win for this group and it’s obviously really good beating your old team.

On the performance of his line, which impacted all four Kings goals
We’ve been using our speed the last couple games and using our size, and it’s just wearing them down and getting pucks to the net. It’s a pretty simple recipe, but we’re sticking with it. Credit to the guys for playing the right way.

On why he’s clicked so well with Quinton Byfield on a line
I just think his speed and his size really helps me. I like to play fast and I think a big part of it too is off the ice. Knowing him from Toronto, it made me feel a little bit more comfortable when I first came here, he was one of the guys that I knew. We’re pretty good friends and I find that when you build that chemistry off the ice, it’s easier to be harder on each other on the ice, having those difficult conversations and just keeping each other real. We’ve stepped it up the last couple games and we both, and Jeanno too, we’ve got to keep it going, because there’s a lot of hockey left and points are crucial.

On the confidence shown in him to start overtime
A couple of those guys on the ice were asking me why I’m out there, so I made sure I was going to work hard out there, that’s for sure. Jimmy’s been crucial for me, giving me that voice of confidence, believing in me. I haven’t really had a coach that fully entrusted me in my whole time in the league. I think a big reason for my individual success is from Jimmy giving me that confidence and that’s by putting me in roles that maybe I hadn’t done in the past. It’s good to get his trust and just try to build off that.

Jim Hiller
On the performance of the Foegele/Byfield/Jeannot line in today’s win
I think we have a really solid team with unique, a lot of different players, unique players. I think that line in particular is very tenacious. Jeannot doesn’t skate as quick as Q and Foegs but he’s tenacious, he’s on pucks, he’s physical. They’re all three, that. I thought, if you noticed, Q was really physical tonight too, so he added that element again, or he has that element, he doesn’t bring it consistently enough, tonight he did. That line was really good, it’s the best they’ve played all year, there’s no question.

On if he feels any extra significance now, in beating Edmonton, considering the result
No. It’s so tempting to do that, right, based on the result and that’s kind of, as fans, as players and as coaches, we all do the same thing, you swing. Had we lost the overtime game, would have been saying ‘you lost again to Edmonton, in overtime too, terrible’ so it’s really hard to separate that ,I get it and we go through the same thing, but no. It was an important game for us, for sure, getting back on home ice after being gone for seven games. I thought it was, for a game that the players were off for four days and then one practice, I thought both teams, it was a pretty entertaining hockey game, probably the best or most entertaining hockey game of the year.

On deciding to start Byfield and Foegele for overtime tonight
If I hadn’t, I’m sure you would’ve asked me ‘why didn’t you start Byfield and Foegele, they had such a good game tonight’ right? Even I got that one right, fortunately, we made the right choice. I thought, actually, we lost in Nashville, and I thought Byfield and Foegele played very well in that game. Should have started [in overtime], it went through my mind to start them in Nashville and I told them, next time we’re in overtime, I owe you one, you guys are starting. They played really well.

On the way Foegele has come in and played as an offseason signing
He’s really competitive, he’s got size, which everybody wants size and likes size, but he moves really well, he is quick. So, you put size with a good skater and he’s extremely competitive. What I’ve come to, and I’ve seen some of that, we scout them, scout the players and that type of thing and coach against them, but what I’ve come to really appreciate in getting to know him is what kind of a student of the game he is. How hockey, I’m sure his fiancé and family [come first], but besides that, hockey is so important to him and it means a lot to him that he does well. He really has a lot of pride in his game, he’ll probably end up coaching someday, I think, that type of personality, so that’s what I’ve come to appreciate. We didn’t know that about him, when you sign a guy and yeah, I just think he’s embraced the role, maybe a bigger role than he’s had in the past and he’s really running with it.

On the approach to overtime and getting the first OT/SO win of the season
We just wanted to go out there and play. Just survive. I thought we had the puck more in this overtime than we have in some of the other overtimes, which, against Edmonton in overtime, is difficult to do, but I was glad to see us hang on and also threaten, took it to the net a couple times, Mikey, so that was a good overtime period. Of course it’s great when you score, but just generally, I thought we controlled some of the play in overtime, which we have done that much of this year.

Notes –
• Forward Quinton Byfield (2-1=3) scored his seventh and eighth goals and recorded his 10th assist of the season to extend his point streak against Edmonton to a fifth game (4-5=9), dating back to Dec. 30, 2023.
• Per NHL PR, Byfield (22 years, 131 days) became the sixth player in Kings history to score an overtime goal before age 23, following Anze Kopitar (20 years, 78 days on Nov. 10, 2007), Drew Doughty (20 years, 104 days on March 22, 2010 & 22 years, 28 days on Jan. 5, 2012), Olli Jokinen (20 years, 115 days on March 30, 1999), Brandt Clarke (21 years, 8 days on Feb. 17, 2024) and Luc Robitaille (22 years, 359 days on Feb. 10, 1989).
• Forward Warren Foegele (1-2=3) notched his 10th goal and collected two assists as part of his sixth multi-point game of the campaign.
• With their respective three-point performances, Foegele and Byfield join Kopitar (3x) and Clarke (2x) as the third and fourth Kings players to tally a trio of points in a single game this season.
• Forward Tanner Jeannot (1-0=1) scored his fifth goal of the season to knot the contest at three goals apiece in the third period.
• Defenseman Jordan Spence 0-2=2) picked up his ninth and 10th assists of the campaign for his second multi-point game of the year (0-2=2; Dec. 19 at PHI).
• Defenseman Brandt Clarke (0-1=1) recorded his 17th helper of the season, the most among Kings blueliners and tied for the second most on the team.
• Forward Phillip Danault (0-1=1) collected his 15th helper of the season on Byfield’s overtime winner, extending his point streak to a third consecutive appearance (0-3=3), dating back to Dec. 19 in Philadelphia.
• Forward Adrian Kempe (0-1=1) registered his 17th assist of the season to keep pace with Clarke for the second most helpers among Kings skaters this season.
• Goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves on 27 shots to improve his record to 9-2-5 on the campaign.

The Kings are scheduled to return to the ice tomorrow against Philadelphia at 6 PM at Crypto.com Arena.