Old rivals renewed acquaintances at Rogers Place on Saturday (Jan. 10) night, as the Edmonton Oilers hosted the Los Angeles Kings in the first meeting of 2025-26 between two teams who have met each of the last four postseasons.
Both teams earned a point, but at the end of the night, it was the visiting team coming out on top, as Los Angeles won 4-3 in a shootout, spoiling the night on which Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl was honoured for reaching 1,000 career points.
First Period
Draisaitl opened the scoring when he fired a shot past Kings netminder Anton Forsberg at 9:12 of the first period. Ex-Oilers forward Corey Perry, playing his first game back at Rogers Place since departing via free agency, evened things up when he put the puck behind Oilers netminder Connor Ingram at 17:50 of the first period. Shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes were 7-6 in favour of the visitors, and Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse took the only penalty of the first period.
Second Period
The teams again traded goals in the middle frame. Draisaitl restored Edmonton’s lead just 67 seconds into the period, potting his 23rd goal of the season after taking a feed from Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard. The Kings, however, needed less than three minutes to respond, as Andre Lee notched his first goal of 2025-26 at 3:42. During the second period, Los Angeles outshot Edmonton 12-9 while each team went 0-for-1 on the power-play.
Third Period
Los Angeles took its first lead of the night at 6:21 of the third period, going ahead 3-2 when defenceman Brandt Clarke threw the puck at Edmonton’s net and forward Alex Laferriere tipped it past Ingram. Edmonton cashed in on a 5-on-3 power-play at 9:20, as Connor McDavid fired home his 30th goal of 2025-26 to extend his point streak to a personal best 18 games, making the score 3-3. Los Angeles had a 12-4 edge in shots over the last 20 minutes of regulation.
Overtime & Shootout
There were no goals scored in five minutes of sudden death, though McDavid came close: With just 1:24 remaining, the Oilers captain drove to the net and put the puck over the goal-line while making contact with Forsberg, but the play was ruled no goal due to goaltender interference. Edmonton had an abbreviated power play over the final 29 seconds of overtime, but couldn’t capitalize, necessitating a shootout. In the shootout, Adrian Kempe scored for Los Angeles, while Forsberg foiled all three Oilers’ attempts.
Los Angeles improves its record to 19-15-10 for 48 points, while the Oilers now have 51 points from a record of 22-16-7. Both Edmonton and Los Angeles are back in action on Monday (Jan. 12), when the Oilers visit the Chicago Blackhawks while the Kings host the Dallas Stars.
