Oilers get two hat tricks against Kings, gain in West wild-card race

EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers moved within five points of the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl each had a hat trick in an 8-4 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Rogers Place on Tuesday.

Each of Nugent-Hopkins' goals were scored in the first period, and Draisaitl also had an assist for the Oilers (34-34-8), who trail the Colorado Avalanche and Arizona Coyotes by five points for the second wild card.
"I don't think I've done that since minor hockey," Nugent-Hopkins said of his third NHL hat trick and first scored in one period. "It's something new to me, but it was a good way to start the game.
"We kept pushing and pushing and put a lot of pucks on net and didn't really let them breathe at all. It was a good way to start, and we kept the pressure on for the whole 60 minutes."
WATCH: [All Kings vs. Oilers highlights]
Oilers center Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists; he has an NHL career high 112 points (39 goals, 73 assists). Draisaitl has 99 points (46 goals, 53 assists).
"You look at the points they [McDavid and Draisaitl] have, we're not the only team that's had trouble with them," Kings coach Willie Desjardins said. "When they're going, they are hard to play against and I've always liked Nugent-Hopkins; I think he's underrated, I think he's a good player. They were good tonight they came out and capitalized on their chances."

Dustin Brown had a goal and two assists, and Anze Kopitar had three assists for Los Angeles (28-40-8), which had won three straight. The Kings have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Jonathan Quick gave up five goals on 11 shots in the first period before being replaced by Jack Campbell, who made 18 saves.
"There is not much I can say about that one," Kopitar said. "Coming out in the second and getting the goals was obviously positive, but we can't expect to win many games when you're down 5-1."
Alex Iafallo scored at 2:10 of the first period to give the Kings a 1-0 lead, but Nugent-Hopkins tied it at 3:32, Draisaitl scored at 4:36 to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead and Zack Kassian made it 3-1 at 10:39.
Nugent-Hopkins scored at 14:18 to make it 4-1 and then again on the power play at 19:48 for a 5-1 lead.
"We had a pretty good start to the game," Desjardins said. "Quick made some big saves too, it wasn't that he didn't; he made two or three really good saves in the first period. But it seemed other things were going in on us. They have a good team; they're explosive, we know that, and when you get behind you're trying to come back and it's a tough process because they're going to turn some 2-on-1 and they're pretty skilled."

Drew Doughty scored on the power play at 7:56 of the second period to make it 5-2 before McDavid scored to make it 6-2 at 11:41.
Draisaitl scored at 14:38 to make it 7-2.
Brown made it 7-3 on the power play at 16:52, and Carl Grundstrom scored to make it 7-4 at 19:16.
Draisaitl completed his first NHL hat trick at 18:29 of the third period for the 8-4 final.
"It took me long enough. There were a couple of beautiful plays by my linemates; it was easy to put those in," Draisaitl said. "It's great to see different guys contribute and a lot of guys having big nights. It is exciting, and we need that.
"It is a great year for [Nugent-Hopkins] too, and it was good to see him capping it off with a hat trick."
Mikko Koskinen made 34 saves for Edmonton.

They said it

"You have to contain them, you have to take their time and space away and we didn't do a very good job of it. They had a lot of space in the middle of the ice and when you give guys with that kind of caliber and that kind of skill that much space and that much time, they're going to make you pay and they did." -- Kings center Anze Kopitar on Oilers forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl
"I'm happy for both of them. I'm not sure if I have seen two teammates get hat tricks in the same game, other than maybe in minor hockey. That was pretty cool." -- Oilers captain Connor McDavid on forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl

Need to know

Prior to Tuesday, forward Milan Lucic was the most recent Oilers player to score a hat trick in a period. He scored three goals in the third during a 4-2 win at the San Jose Sharks on April 6, 2017. … Nugent-Hopkins and Draisaitl were the first two Oilers to each score a hat trick in a game since Jari Kurri (four goals) and Paul Coffey in a 9-4 win against the Kings on Dec. 20, 1985. … Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom had three assists; defenseman Darnell Nurse was plus-4 in 24:24 of ice time.

What's next

Kings: At the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; SNP, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Oilers: Host the Dallas Stars on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-SW+, NHL.TV)