McDavid takes NHL scoring lead in Oilers win against Kings

EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid had two goals to take the NHL scoring lead, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 at Rogers Place on Saturday.
McDavid has 96 points (38 goals, 58 assists) to pass Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who has 95 (37 goals, 58 assists). Kucherov, who led the NHL in scoring since Dec. 12, did not have a point in the Lightning's 2-1 loss at the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

WATCH: [All Kings vs. Oilers highlights]
"I hope he gets it and he continues to produce the way he has," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "He's got a shot at the scoring title and his teammates will try and help him get there while we try to win games. The one great thing about him and him being the captain is that he always puts the team ahead of himself."
The Kings, Anaheim Ducks and St. Louis Blues each have 89 points. Anaheim is in third place in the Pacific Division because it has played one fewer game than Los Angeles, and the Blues hold the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference because they have played one fewer game than the Kings.
Pontus Aberg scored for Edmonton (34-36-5), which has won three in a row, and Cam Talbot made 27 saves.
Jake Muzzin and Jeff Carter scored for Los Angeles (41-28-7), and Jonathan Quick made 24 saves.
"Chasing games on the road is tough. We had some chances and didn't score," Muzzin said. "I don't think we were as prepared as we should have been emotionally in this game and I don't know why. We got desperate a little too late, we weren't able to capitalize and able to come back."

Aberg scored 45 seconds into the first period to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead. He collected a loose puck behind the net and tucked it in.
McDavid scored at 15:32 for a 2-0 lead, knocking in a second attempt after hitting the side of the net with his original tip off a pass from defenseman Adam Larsson.
"It's important to come down the stretch solid as a team," McDavid said. "And individually, guys want to feel good about themselves heading into the summer and build some steam heading into next year."
Muzzin made it 2-1 at 16:00. He took a pass from Tanner Pearson in the slot and picked the bottom corner on Talbot.
McDavid increased the lead to 3-1 at 4:08 of the second period, taking a pass from Anton Slepyshev, skating between Kings center Tyler Toffoli and defenseman Derek Forbort, and shooting between Quick's pads.
"It's tough to get down early," Kings coach John Stevens said. "… but at the end of the day you don't want to start against anybody down chasing the game."
Carter cut the lead to 3-2 at 6:19, converting a cross-crease pass from Tobias Rieder.
"It would have been an awesome trip getting this win," Muzzin said. "We had some tough games and a tough back-to-back. [Goalie Jack Campbell] did well in Winnipeg to get us a point [2-1 overtime loss]. We got some points out of this trip (2-1-1) and we're going to have to get some more coming up at home."

Goal of the game

McDavid's goal at 4:08 of the second period.

Save of the game

Talbot's save on Nate Thompson at 1:12 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

McDavid's goal at 15:32 of the first period.

They said it

"I was on the ice, and when you let in a goal on the second shift of the game it's not the start you wanted. We had to climb up hill right from the get-go and it makes the game a lot tougher." -- Kings forward Tanner Pearson
"Lately we have been stringing some games together, something we didn't do as well at the start of the season. It was obviously not the way we wanted it to go in the first half, but we can take some confidence and play the game the right way to at least go into the summer with a good feeling." -- Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Need to know

The Kings have six games remaining, five at home. ... Larsson's assist on McDavid's first goal gave him 100 NHL points. … Carter has 13 points (nine goals, four assists) in 15 games since returning from a tendon injury to his ankle on Feb. 24.

What's next

Kings:Host the Calgary Flames on Monday (10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, SNW, NHL.TV)
Oilers:Host the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday (9:30 p.m. ET; SN1, SNW, PRIME, NHL.TV)