The Los Angeles Kings have seen plenty of the Edmonton Oilers in the last three years, facing them in Round 1 of the postseason in the last three campaigns. Unfortunately for the Kings, the Oilers punched their ticket to the Conference Semi-Final on each occasion.
While the prize from Saturday's regular-season matchup between the two rivals was only a pair of points in the standings rather than a postseason victory, the Kings can feel good about beating their yearly nemesis.
Quinton Byfield scored in overtime to give the Kings a 4-3 victory, improving their record to 20-10-5 while the Oilers fell to 21-11-3.
The Oilers struck first midway through the first period with Kaspari Kapanen's fifth goal of the year. But the Kings responded with the first of what would be a pair of goals from Byfield, followed by a tally from former Oilers forward Warren Foegele.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins knotted the score at 2-2 with his seventh goal, followed by a goal from former Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson to give Edmonton the lead.
Early in the third period, Tanner Jeannot once again tied the score with his fifth goal, setting the stage for overtime. In the extra session, Byfield sniped a shot past the glove of goaltender Stuart Skinner before making sure to celebrate in a cold-blooded way.
Skinner stopped 25 of 29 shots that he faced, while Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves.
Three least impressive Edmonton Oilers players in OT loss to the Los Angeles Kings
#1 Adam Henrique
The veteran Oilers forward, who was acquired for last season's postseason run, was re-signed to a new deal during the summer for his leadership and defensive play.
However, Saturday's game was among his poorest outings since joining the Edmonton Oilers. Henrique was on the ice for all four Kings goals.
#2 Stuart Skinner
Not only was the Oilers goaltender victimized for four goals on 29 shots, he also lost a key argument with the officials shortly before Byfield's overtime winner.
Skinner failed to get a whistle from the referee when a strap on his mask was undone and was soon sniped by Byfield with a wicked wrist shot that beat him glove side.
#3 Darnell Nurse
The top Edmonton Oilers defenseman had a poor outing against the Kings, picking up a -2 rating and accidentally deflecting the puck past Skinner on Foegele's goal. Moreover, he was also caught out of position on the third Los Angeles goal.