Oilers vs. Kings: Connor McDavid's Four-Point 800th Game Keeps Edmonton Perfect on the Road

Connor McDavid needed 15 minutes and 48 seconds to turn his 800th NHL game into a personal highlight package. He set up Leon Draisaitl, set up Vasily Podkolzin, then took a stretch pass in stride and scored on a breakaway himself. By the first intermission, Los Angeles had played 20 minutes and was already down three.

The Edmonton Oilers cruised from there to a 4-1 win over the winless Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena. McDavid finished with a goal and three assists, Podkolzin scored twice, Draisaitl had a goal and an assist, and Devon Levi made 39 saves as Edmonton won its fifth straight game.

Three Goals, One Name on All of Them

The opener came at 7:16. McDavid left Cody Ceci flat-footed and slipped the puck down to Draisaitl at the bottom of the left circle, and Draisaitl beat Darcy Kuemper from a sharp angle. Drew Doughty went to the box for tripping 28 seconds later, and the Oilers needed only 32 seconds of power-play time to double the lead. McDavid burned Mikey Anderson with speed, ripped a shot from the right circle, and Podkolzin cleaned up the rebound at 8:16.

Then came the backbreaker. Late in the period, the Kings spent nearly two full shifts trapping Edmonton in its own zone, per the AP. The Oilers finally got a change, McDavid jumped over the boards, and Ty Emberson launched a stretch pass that caught Los Angeles mid-change. McDavid knocked it down with his glove without breaking stride, slipped behind the defense and tucked a backhand inside the right post at 15:48.

"We were kind of hemmed in there, and then got the change, and so I'm always going to (look for our defense to) high flip it and just go for it. Worked out well," McDavid said.

Kuemper, who stopped four of seven shots, did not come out for the second. Anton Forsberg took over and stopped all nine shots he faced. Brandt Clarke finally got the Kings on the board at 17:29 of the second with a long shot through traffic, his first goal since signing a five-year, $37 million deal last June, according to the AP. Podkolzin hit the empty net at 17:42 of the third, with McDavid and Draisaitl assisting.

The Turning Point

The Kings' best stretch of the night became their worst moment. They had Edmonton pinned and gassed, and one stretch pass erased all of it. That 3-0 goal turned a manageable deficit into a mountain, and Los Angeles spent the rest of the night piling up shots without getting close to climbing it.

Kings forward Trevor Moore did not sugarcoat it. "Just mental lapses in the first, and it feels like every game we're just making little mistake here and there that's just costing us games, and there's no excuse for it," he said.

McDavid at 800

The numbers keep getting silly. McDavid now has 17 points, four goals and 13 assists, in six games. According to NHL.com, his 1,237 career points through 800 games rank third in NHL history at that mark, behind only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, and he became the ninth player in league history with at least 50 four-point games. Per the AP, it was the 33rd time in his 11-year career that he had at least three points in a period, and the 10th time he did it in a first period.

Levi summed him up simply. "I mean, just the way the guy shows up every single day, it's rinse repeat," the goalie said.

Podkolzin has been riding shotgun and cashing in. He has seven goals and has recorded a point in all six games to open the season, per NHL.com. The line of McDavid, Draisaitl and Podkolzin has combined for 37 points through six games. McDavid sounded like a guy enjoying himself. "Leon's one of the best players in the world," he said.

Levi deserves his own paragraph. He stopped 39 of 40 shots for a .975 save percentage, and NHL.com noted he is just the third goaltender in Oilers history to win each of his first four games with the team, joining Mikko Koskinen and Andy Moog. "If that's our bad game, that's a great game. That's a great bad game," he said.

Coach Mike Babcock was not fooled by the scoreboard either. "I didn't think at any time we were fantastic tonight, but McDavid and the big boys were great," he said.

Stats That Matter

• 40-17: Los Angeles' edge in shots on goal. The Kings won the volume battle and lost by three.
• 39 of 40: Levi's saves, the difference between a scare and a rout.
• 3: First-period goals, all of them with McDavid's fingerprints.
• 0-for-4: The Kings' power play, including a chance after McDavid's tripping penalty in the third.

What It Means

Edmonton is 5-0-1 with 11 points and a perfect 4-0-0 on the road after sweeping a three-game trip. Per the AP, the Oilers have scored at least three goals in every game, and they have done it without injured forwards Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. NHL.com noted this is only the third time the franchise has opened a season with a six-game point streak.

Los Angeles is 0-3-2 with two points, 0-2-0 at home and has lost five straight. The Kings have scored one goal in each of their last three games, and per the AP, they and Philadelphia are the NHL's only winless teams. Coach Peter Laviolette, in his first season behind the bench, is pushing an attack-first style on a franchise that, per the AP, has leaned on patient, defense-first hockey for almost 20 years. So far, the transition looks painful.

Moore insisted the room has not cracked. "The belief's there in our group, but just not good enough right now," he said. "Positive is that there's a lot of games left, so we just got to turn the page and figure it out."

Edmonton hosts Utah on Thursday. Los Angeles hosts Boston on Saturday.

Closing Take

McDavid's 800th game played like a greatest hits album that somehow added a new single. The Kings threw 40 shots at the net, controlled long stretches and still never had a chance, because hockey at this level is about who does damage with the puck, and few players in history have done more of it in fewer seconds.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.