EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish didn't exactly try to sugarcoat the Oilers' disappointing performance against the Los Angeles Kings.
"It was unbelievable," MacTavish said after the Kings rallied for a 7-4 victory Thursday night. "Just painful to watch. We've been poor in our own end for the majority of the losses we've had in the last little while.
"We're back playing the way we used to pre-lockout. We were brutal. We were dangerous in both ends and it ended up costing us again."
Alexander Frolov had a goal and two assists and Dustin Brown, Rob Blake, Lubomir Visnovsky, Alyn McCauley, Sean Avery and Brian Willsie also scored for the Kings.
The Kings won their second straight to creep to within five points of the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference, a four-way tie that includes the Oilers.
"We have to keep (winning)," Kings coach Marc Crawford said. "Our team has to find a way to eke out wins and scrape and claw our way back into the race. The only way to do that is to put a streak together. There are a lot of good teams, especially in the Northwest and you have to be at the top of your game to beat them."
Frolov said the victory was doubly important because it came against the Oilers.
"Edmonton is the type of team we are hoping to catch for the playoffs so we were really prepared for this game," Frolov said.
Ryan Smyth, Daniel Tjarnqvist, Jarret Stoll and Fernando Pisani scored for Edmonton. Smyth was back in the lineup less than a month after fracturing a thumb. Despite missing most of December, Smyth leads the Oilers with 17 goals.
"Obviously we still had the turkey legs," said Smyth, who led the Oilers with seven shots on goal. "We were playing a pond hockey game there and with the offensive power they have over there they were able to capitalize on their chances."
Smyth gave Edmonton a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal early in the second period, and Stoll made it 4-2 just 32 seconds later with another power-play goal.
The Kings countered with a power-play goal of their own later in the period when Blake scored the first of the Kings' five straight goals.
After Frolov tied it at 4, Avery put the Kings ahead to stay with 1:59 remaining in the second. Visnovsky and McCauley, into the empty net, scored in the third.
Notes: Blake played in his 700th game for the Kings. ... The Kings will complete their Alberta swing on Friday night in Calgary.
