Edmonton Oilers Beat the LA Kings For Third Straight Win
The winning streak continues for the Edmonton Oilers as they defeated the LA Kings 3-2 last night.
The Edmonton Oilers rattled off their third straight win against the LA Kings last night at Rogers Place. Since their recent loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 18, the Oilers have been streaking hot on the offensive side of the ice.
Scoring 16 goals in the last three games are something that was never really imagined by anyone, and yet this team is peaking at the end of the season. This game against the Kings was a scoring coronation for Connor McDavid as he scored two goals to be the league leader in scoring.
Pontus Aberg also scored a goal and has been on a tear this week. He’s averaged a point per game in this winning streak as the second line right-winger. He could be the gem of the trade deadline as he’s played exceptionally well alongside Leon Draisaitl as of late.
His continuous development playing alongside the top lines will be vital for him to secure a permanent roster spot for next season. Same could also be said for Ty Rattie as he’s been accumulating a point in the last two games. He hasn’t been a detriment to the McDavid line, so his progression as of late has been a welcoming surprise.
Helping or Hurting?
With this latest win over the LA Kings, the Edmonton Oilers might be hurting their draft lottery chances, but that could be a moot point. It’s hard to envision this team having the best player in the world just give up games just for a shot to draft an 18-year-old prospect that might not be NHL ready for next year. It isn’t their job to worry about that, that’s Peter Chiarelli’s job description as he is in charge of finding talent that can help this team out.
Todd McLellan should be applauded this week for the line changes he has made that allowed his team to be clicking on all cylinders right now. Even though their power play has been horrible, they are still competing on both ends of the ice.
The only thing that has hurt them in this recent winning streak is that they are awful on face-offs. They are ranked dead last in the league in face-offs this week, and that might hurt them in whatever games they have remaining.
Tonight they’ll be battling against the Anaheim Ducks tonight so it’ll be interesting to see if they can keep the momentum rolling in back-to-back games.