NHL

Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings

· National Hockey League
Final
4 - 1

Connor McDavid's 3-point first period propels Oilers past winless LA Kings 4-1 for 5th straight win

Vasily Podkolzin scores empty netter

Vasily Podkolzin got his sixth and seventh goals of the season, Leon Draisaitl also scored and Devon Levi made 39 saves for the Oilers, who have won five straight and scored at least three goals in every game of their 5-0-1 start.

McDavid recorded at least three points in a period for the 33rd time in his 11-year career, doing it in the first period for the 10th time. The six-time Art Ross Trophy winner as the NHL's top scorer has a whopping 16 points already this season with five multi-point games.

Brandt Clarke scored for the Kings, who dropped to 0-3-2 to begin coach Peter Laviolette's first season despite outshooting the Oilers 40-16. The Kings are still adjusting to their new direction under Laviolette, who wants offensive aggression from a team that has played deliberate, defense-first hockey for nearly two decades.

Los Angeles and Philadelphia are the NHL's only winless teams.

Evan Bouchard had two assists for the Oilers, who are off to their strong start despite playing without injured Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Edmonton opened the scoring when McDavid froze Cody Ceci and fed the puck low to the quick-wristed Draisaitl. One minute later, Podkolzin converted the rebound after McDavid blew past Mikey Anderson and blistered a shot off Darcy Kuemper.

After the Kings had pinned Edmonton in its own end for nearly two full shifts late in the first period, McDavid came off the bench, accepted Ty Emberson's pass at the blue line in stride and scored his fourth goal.

Kuemper was replaced by Anton Forsberg to start the second.

Clarke scored late in the second period on a long shot through traffic. The goal was Clarke's first since Los Angeles' young defensive cornerstone inked a five-year, $37 million deal last June.

McDavid and Draisaitl assisted on Podkolzin's empty-net goal.

Up next Oilers: Host Utah on Thursday.

Kings: Host Boston on Saturday.

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

Regular Season Series

EDM leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 7:16 Leon Draisaitl Goal (4) Snap Shot, assists: Connor McDavid (11), Evan Bouchard (7)
Goal 1st Period 8:16 Vasily Podkolzin Goal (6) Snap Shot, assists: Connor McDavid (12), Evan Bouchard (8)
Goal 1st Period 15:48 Connor McDavid Goal (4) Backhand, assists: Ty Emberson (1), Jason Dickinson (1)
Goal 2nd Period 17:29 Brandt Clarke Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Scott Laughton (1), Trevor Moore (1)
Goal 3rd Period 17:42 Vasily Podkolzin Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Connor McDavid (13), Leon Draisaitl (7)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/edm.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originEDM https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/la.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originLA
18 Blocked Shots 11
21 Hits 27
3 Takeaways 3
17 Shots 40
1 Power Play Goals 0
3 Power Play Opportunities 4
33.3 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
23 Faceoffs Won 32
41.8 Faceoff Win Percent 58.2
14 Giveaways 20
4 Total Penalties 3
8 Penalty Minutes 6
Los Angeles Kings Los Angeles Kings Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Alex Turcotte, C Injured Reserve Oct 10
Mats Zuccarello, RW Injured Reserve Oct 10
Jakub Dvorak, D Injured Reserve Sep 24
Jan Jenik, C Injured Reserve Sep 24
Kevin Fiala, LW Injured Reserve Sep 17
Edmonton Oilers Edmonton Oilers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Jason Dickinson, C Out Oct 16
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C Injured Reserve Oct 16
Alec Regula, D Injured Reserve Oct 1
Matt Savoie, C Injured Reserve Oct 1
Frederik Andersen, G Injured Reserve Sep 29

Game Information

crypto.com Arena

Location: Los Angeles, CA
Attendance: 16,192 | Capacity:

2026-27 Pacific Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Vegas 0 2 14 7
Edmonton 1 1 11 5
Seattle 1 2 11 5
Anaheim 0 3 8 4
San Jose 0 3 8 4
Vancouver 1 7 5 2
Los Angeles 2 3 2 0
Calgary 0 6 2 1
Full Standings