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Oilers shut out Kings to take over 2nd place in Pacific Division

March 31, 2023

EDMONTON, Alberta — A hot goalie and a generational talent were too much for the Kings to overcome, and that led to a shuffle in the tightly packed Pacific Division standings.

Stuart Skinner made 43 saves and Connor McDavid scored his NHL-leading 61st goal of the season as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Kings, 2-0, on Thursday night for their third straight victory.

McDavid scored his 300th NHL goal, beating Kings goalie Joonas Korpisalo with a wrist shot from the slot on a short-handed breakaway to make it 2-0 at 3:53 of the third period.

He pointed to the Oilers clamping down defensively.

“It is one thing to talk about it, it is another thing to go out there and do it,” said McDavid, who helped Edmonton (97 points) climb over the Kings (96) for second place in the division, two points behind first-place Vegas. “We talk about being defensive and playing hard and I felt you saw that tonight.”

McDavid became the first player in NHL history to have five 10-game point streaks in a season, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record of four in 1986-87. McDavid also became the fifth player in league history to reach 300 goals and 500 assists before playing 600 career games, following Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Peter Statsny and Bryan Trottier.

Korpisalo made 35 saves for the Kings, who have lost two in a row after their franchise-record 12-game points streak.

“I thought it was a hell of a game, both teams played really hard and it came down to a bounce or a break or two and they were able to score,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “We had some real good looks and we ran into a hot goaltender and didn’t quite get it over the goal line, but I thought it was a heck of a game.”

Skinner recorded his first shutout of the season and second in the NHL, as Edmonton finished 12-2-1 in March.

“I felt pretty good,” Skinner said. “I think confidence grows as the team is doing such a good job in front of me. I think for a full 60 minutes that we just battled hard. Being able to get the two points is massive. We were so hungry to win every battle and I think that was very impressive to watch.”

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The only other time Skinner had an NHL shutout was last season against San Jose, but he was sent down to the AHL the following day.

“We’re not going to do the same thing we did last year,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “He’s mature beyond his years. He came up with the big save at the right time. That team shoots from everywhere, they’re volume shooters. But had some really good chances late in the third and Stuart was there.”

Evander Kane opened the scoring with 52 seconds left in the first period with his 15th of the season.

UP NEXT

The Kings play at Seattle on Saturday night.

The Oilers host the Ducks on Saturday night.

Orange County Register

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Oilers shut out Kings to take over 2nd place in Pacific Division

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