McDavid scores, Skinner gets sixth career shutout as Oilers beat Kings 1-0

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid scored in the second period and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 on Monday night for their second straight win.

Stuart Skinner stopped 31 shots to earn his second shutout of the season and sixth of his career as the Oilers won for the sixth time in seven games to move ahead of the Kings into second place in the Pacific Division. The Oilers are four points behind first-place Vegas.

Darcy Kuemper finished with 29 saves for the Kings, who have lost two straight after a five-game winning streak.

Takeaways

Los Angeles: Kuemper came into the game with a 12-2-5 record with a stingy 2.16 GAA and .921 save percentage. He had earned at least a point in his 10 previous appearances, just the fourth goalie in franchise history to do so and the first since Robb Stauber in 1992.

Oilers: McDavid celebrated his 28th birthday and ended up tied for third in NHL history for points by the time he hit that age with Detroit Red Wings legend Steve Yzerman (1,040 points) — although McDavid reached the mark in 73 fewer games. Only Wayne Gretzky (1,773) and Mario Lemieux (1,174) had more points by the time they hit 28.

Key moment

Edmonton finally broke the scoreless deadlock with 1:23 to play in the second period as Leon Draisaitl won a race for the puck and took it behind the net before feeding it in front to a pinching Darnell Nurse. Kuemper made the save on Nurse’s blast, but the rebound came to McDavid and he deposited his 17th goal of the season into the Kings’ net.

Key stat

The Kings fell to 13-4-2 since Nov. 27 for a .737 points percentage. Edmonton improved to a league-best 16-4-1 (.786).

Up Next

Kings visit Vancouver on Thursday, and Oilers play at Minnesota on Wednesday.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL