Draisaitl’s 3-point game propels Oilers past Kings, into 2nd in Pacific | CBC Sports

Leon Draisaitl broke a tie with 7:20 left and the Edmonton Oilers vaulted into second place in the Pacific Division with a 3-1 victory over the Kings in Los Angeles on Tuesday night in a pivotal game for playoff seeding.

The teams split the four-game season series and are on course to possibly meet in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second straight year. Edmonton had home ice in last year’s series and won in seven games.

Draisaitl, who also had two assists, extended his point streak to 13 games with 10 goals and 27 points during that span.

Both of Edmonton’s goals came on the power play. Draisaitl had the go-ahead score at 12:40 of the third period when he put in a rebound past Pheonix Copley in front of Los Angeles’ net.

WATCH | Draisaitl scores clutch goal:

Draisaitl lifts Oilers over Kings with 51st goal of season

Leon Draisaitl’s three points leads Edmonton to a 3-1 win over Los Angeles for their fifth straight victory. The Oilers move past the Kings into second place in the Pacific Division.

It was Draisaitl’s 51st goal of the season and his league-leading 31st on the power play.

Edmonton leads the league with a 32.7 per cent success rate on the power play, the highest by a team since 1977-78.

Ironically, Los Angeles’ Viktor Arvidsson, who tied it 1 and snapped a 171:58 shutout streak by the Oilers, was called for the penalty that resulted in Edmonton’s deciding goal.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Darnell Nurse also scored for the Oilers while Stuart Skinner stopped 20 shots. Copley made 30 saves for the Kings.

It also gave Nugent-Hopkins 15 goals with the man advantage. According to the NHL, the Oilers are the first team to have at least four players with 15 power-play goals in a season.

Arvidsson evened it at 10:26 of the third with a one-timer from the point off the pass from Trevor Moore.

Nurse put it away with an empty-net goal late in the third.