koskinen_atkings

LOS ANGELES, CA - It was neither the return Adam Larsson was looking for nor the outcome the Oilers intended.
Not in the defenceman's re-entrance to the lineup after being sidelined for the past 22 games. Not in his 500th career outing.
And not at this juncture of the club's Western Conference road swing.

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS

Oilers at Kings
Oilers at Kings

WHAT'S NEXT
The Oilers five-game road trip continues Saturday against the Vegas Golden Knights. The game can be seen on Sportsnet & CBC, and heard on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED. Puck drop is 8:08 p.m. MT.
POST-GAME UPDATES
Inside The Oilers Blog
The Oilers ceded three to the Kings in the first, one in the second and one more in the third to fall 5-1 at STAPLES Center on Thursday night in the second of a five-game getaway.
"We weren't ready off the start. That's on us," said Leon Draisaitl, who's 13-game point streak was snapped.
It's never been easy to win in Hollywood, given the Oilers 1-13-1 record in Los Angeles in their last 15 heading into Thursday's joust.
The difficulty heightened with Kings winger Jeff Carter's 1,000 game ceremony as the home side - led by former Oilers coach Todd McLellan - took full advantage of Kings' court on the two-time Stanley Cup champions' night.
"This is a tough building to play in and always has been for us," Connor McDavid said post-game.
"Credit to them. It was over pretty early."
Carter finished the first period with a goal and assist then added another helper on Tyler Toffoli's second of the match in the third stanza to ice the contest.
Mike Smith started in goal but was replaced by Mikko Koskinen to start the middle frame. Smith ended the night with nine saves on 12 shots, while Koskinen put aside 16 of 18.
McDavid extended his point streak to nine games, tying his linemate Draisaitl for the National Hockey League lead in points when he stripped a puck in the opening minute of the second and went bunk on Kings netminder Jonathan Quick.
"We couldn't outscore our mistakes," said the Oilers Captain.
Head Coach Dave Tippett felt the game was lost in the opening period. Toffoli opened the scoring just 1:32 in on the first shot of the game and Carter made it a three-goal lead with less than five seconds left.

EDM Recap: McDavid scores lone goal in 5-1 defeat

"Poor start," said the Oilers coach. "We gave up goals early. The goal right at the end of the first period is a poor goal to give up. Five seconds left, we have control of the puck at the offensive zone blueline and we give up a goal.
"That was kind of a microcosm of where we were tonight."
As for Larsson, Tippett assessed the defender's performance post-game.
"It'll take a few games to get going but he's in great shape and he went out and was solid tonight," said the coach.
The Oilers will move on to Vegas for a match with the Golden Knights on Saturday.