EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Adrian Kempe had a goal and two assists and Warren Foegele and Kevin Fiala each had a goal and an assist as the Los Angeles Kings beat the depleted Edmonton Oilers 5-0 on Monday night.
Quinton Byfield and Vladislav Gavrikov also scored for the Kings, who have won seven of their last eight and officially clinched home-ice against the Oilers in the first round of the playoffs.
Darcy Kuemper had 16 saves before being replaced by David Rittich before the midway mark of the third period, seemingly for precautionary reasons. Rittich finished with five saves.
Calvin Pickard had 31 saves for Edmonton, which snapped a three-game win streak. The Oilers were without several key players, including Connor McDavid (rest), Leon Draisaitl (undisclosed), Mattias Ekholm (undisclosed), Trent Frederic (ankle), Zach Hyman (undisclosed), Evander Kane (hip, knee), Troy Stetcher (undisclosed) and Jake Walman (undisclosed). All but Ekholm are expected to either start the playoffs or be available within the first couple of postseason games.
Takeaways
Kings: Byfield now has goals in four consecutive games and seven points in that span. He is one point short of tying his career high of 55 points set during the 2023-2024 season. Since Feb. 1, he leads the team with 31 points in 31 games.
Oilers: Forward Connor Brown skated in his 600th career game but was held off the scoresheet, ending a three-game goal-scoring streak.
Key moment
Los Angeles made it 4-0 with a power-play goal eight minutes into the middle period as Fiala blasted his career high and team-leading 35th goal of the season off of Pickard’s glove and in. He now has seven goals in his last six games.
Key stat
Edmonton has defeated Los Angeles in the opening round in each of the past three seasons. The Oilers needed seven games to knock out the Kings in 2022, eliminated them in six games in 2023 and were victorious in five games in 2024. The Oilers had home-ice advantage in all three of those matchups.
Up next
Kings play at Seattle on Tuesday in road finale, and Oilers visit San Jose on Wednesday to finish season.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
The Associated Press
