GAME RECAP: Kings 4, Oilers 3 (SO)

EDMONTON, AB – Leon Draisaitl scored twice on his 1,000-point celebration night, while Connor McDavid set a new career-high with an 18-game point streak, but the Edmonton Oilers were defeated 4-3 in a shootout by the Los Angeles Kings at Rogers Place on Hockey Night in Canada.

The search for three straight wins this season continues for the Oilers after the Kings battled back from behind twice on Draisaitl's 22nd and 23rd goals of the season, before McDavid set a new career-high point streak by forcing the game to overtime with his 30th goal on a five-on-three during the final frame.

In a wild sudden-death period, McDavid had a goal waved off for goaltender interference before Adrian Kempe scored the lone goal of the shootout to earn the Kings the extra point and the victory in the first meeting of the season between the two Pacific rivals, who are now separated by three points.

"I thought we had looks to win this game," McDavid said. "I don't know what it is. We really gotta find a way to put together a streak. I keep on saying it's an important stretch for us, so we gotta put a string of wins together."

Evan Bouchard had two assists, while Kasperi Kapanen and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each contributed solo helpers.

Goaltender Connor Ingram stopped 27 of 30 shots in the defeat that drops Edmonton's record to 22-16-7 this season.

The Oilers will be back in action to kick off the Dad's Trip on Monday with the start of a back-to-back on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks.

FIRST PERIOD

On the night when he was honoured in a pre-game ceremony for reaching 1,000 career points, Leon Draisaitl notched his 22nd goal of the season to open the scoring after he buried Kasperi Kapanen's pass out front that came off some miscommunication below the goal line from the Kings.

"He's had such an amazing career thus far, and he's going to keep on scoring," Kapanen said. "So whenever you can get the puck to him that close to the net, it usually has a good chance of going in."

Goaltender Anton Forsberg gave the puck away with a blind pass off a dump-in by the Oilers before Kapanen took the puck away from Brandt Clarke and tossed it to a wide-open Draisaitl, who placed his one-timer short side to open the scoring at 10:48 of the first period.

"A fun night for him," McDavid said. "Obviously, an exciting night celebrating his thousand points and having his family in town."

Beyond his celebrations, Draisaitl has been forming some good chemistry with his linemates Kapanen and Podkolzin on the second line since Kapanen returned three games ago from a 36-game injury absence, recording points in each of those after garnering the helper on Draisaitl's go-ahead goal.

"The confidence is great," Kapanen said. "I'm honestly a little surprised about how good I feel. I think whenever you're out that long, it always takes some time to kind of get into the games. But ever since that first game, I felt pretty good, and I think today was probably felt the best I've felt so far."

Podkolzin didn't get an assist on the play or a point on Saturday, but a big hit on Draisaitl's first goal had a hand in their line getting on the scoresheet.

"He had a great game tonight," Knoblauch said. "So many big hits, and obviously, he set up the first one by just getting in on the forecheck. But yeah, I think a lot of what Podz does is just create offensive time. Whether he's putting a little fear in the opposition because they know they're going to get hit, or he was able to break up plays with his stick numerous times.

"It's not that it's all dump-and-chase and simple; he can make some plays, so Podz is a good support player."

Returning to Edmonton the first time with the Kings, Corey Perry received a standing ovation during a TV timeout for his two seasons in Oil Country, but those sentiments were quickly changed back to how they were a few seasons ago when the 40-year-old veteran reminded them of what he can do.

With Isaac Howard in the box for hooking in the final three minutes, Perry went to the net front on Los Angeles' first power play and was the first one to find a loose puck to bury it past Connor Ingram, who thought he had the puck in his glove from a high shot from Clarke before it was put past him by 'the Worm'.

Both the Kings & Oilers had their own pushes after finishing the first period of their first meeting of the season knotted at 1-1.

SECOND PERIOD

The Kings were doing everything in their power to spoil Draisaitl's celebrations on Saturday while playing the second of a back-to-back.

"I think it's the same team that we've been facing for some time now," Kapanen said. "And listen, I thought they played pretty well, especially after playing last night, too. So they had their moments, and we had our moments tonight. That's just the way it went.

"We had a pretty good effort tonight, and that's hockey sometimes."

Draisaitl notched his second goal of the night as the target of a set play off an offensive-zone faceoff just over a minute into the second period, giving the Oilers back the lead, but the Kings followed the format from the first period by responding 3:35 to make it all square again in Edmonton.

On a play right off the whiteboard, Draisaitl won a faceoff in Los Angeles' zone cleanly to Evan Bouchard before the German went straight to the far circle as Vasily Podkolzin ran the block against the Kings' centre, making room for No. 29 to blast a one-timer that went through Forsberg's five-hole to make it 2-1.

Draisaitl hadn't scored in the previous four games before Tuesday's 6-2 win over Nashville, but he now has three goals in his last three games.

But the Kings, just as they had been in the first period, continued to counter the Oilers on Saturday and tied the game off the rush a few minutes later on rookie Andre Lee's first goal of the season.

After some nice passing coming through the neutral zone, Anderi Kuzmenko had the puck on his stick for a partial two-on-one before trying to sift a saucer pass over to Lee that caught an Oilers' stick on the way through, but the rookie reached out and poked the puck over the left pad of Ingram to make it 2-2.

"Both teams had chances and defended well at times," Kapanen said. "They do try to clog up that neutral zone pretty well, and I think at times we got it through it pretty well, and then other times we turned it over and kind of fed their transition."

THIRD PERIOD

It was the Oilers' turn to provide a response in the final 20 minutes, and it was Connor McDavid who managed to extend his point streak to new heights after the Kings took their first lead of the game just over six minutes into the frame.

The Kings ran their own set faceoff play when Alex Laferriere won it to Adrian Kempe before it was dropped to Clarke coming down the boards, throwing the puck along the ice into the left circle for Laferriere to put a deceptive deflection on the defenceman's pass and redirect it past Ingram for LA's first lead.

A few minutes later, a power play for the Oilers turned into a two-man advantage for 36 seconds when McDavid was slashed in the hands by Adrian Kempe while coming through the neutral zone with speed, and it was the captain who'd make them pay while setting a new career-high point streak of 18 games.

Before the first minor penalty to Kuzmenko had expired, McDavid exchanged passes with Nugent-Hopkins on the right side before No. 97 caught Forsberg down in his butterfly with a shot from the slot that squeaked under his right arm, giving McDavid 30 goals on the season and tying things up at 3-3.

McDavid became just the fifth Oilers player to reach a point streak of 18 games – joining Wayne Gretzky (8), Paul Coffey, Leon Draisaitl, and Jari Kurri – and the ninth 30-goal season of his career, tying Glenn Anderson and Wayne Gretzky for the second most in Oilers history behind only Jari Kurri (10).

"I just want to play good hockey and really help this team win games, that's all," McDavid said. "We haven't been winning games, but we gotta find a way to win a couple more."

The Kings could've ended it late when Kuzmenko hit LA's third post of the night with a few minutes remaining before Ingram stopped Byfield on an odd-man rush with 31 seconds left in regulation, sending us to overtime in the first meeting of the season between these long-stated rivals in the Pacific.

OVERTIME

After the drama of an exciting overtime at Rogers Place, it wasn't enough to decide this one, and the Kings came away with the extra point in the shootout.

McDavid's first attempt of extra time on a two-on-one was stopped well by Forsberg before Nugent-Hopkins made the incredible two-pad stack at the other end to take away a wide-open one-timer for Kempe, with the longest-tenured Oilers forward making one of the biggest saves of the night.

Nugent-Hopkins was a part of another two-on-one with Hyman soon after that almost ended it when Hyman crased the back post to intercept No. 93's weighted saucer pass, but it didn't find its way into the back of the net before the Kings countered and had another chance of their own.

The puck certainly did cross the line when McDavid dangled past Doughty one-on-one in the Kings' zone before crashing the net and having the puck come off him and the post before crossing the goal line as he came in contact with Forsberg in the crease, looking like the Oilers might have the late winner.

But with the goal being called 'no goal' on the ice, an official review didn't do much to sway the opinion of the referees, who upheld the call to send us to the shootout. McDavid gave his view on the play post-game.

"I feel like I have the puck and I'm taking it to the net and I'm getting pushed in," McDavid said. "I feel like I got tapped on the other side, but obviously, the refs and the situation room have to make a call, and they felt differently, and that's the way it goes."

In the shootout, McDavid couldn't elevate his backhand, nor could Draisaitl score on a slap shot on his attempt, but Kempe managed to beat Ingram with a smooth snipe on his forehand for the winning goal, while Forsberg stopped all three shooters he faced.