Los Angeles, CA (My Sportsbook) - Ales Hemsky scored the game-winner in the shootout as the
Edmonton Oilers edged the
Los Angeles Kings, 5-4, at the Staples Center.
Hemsky was the final shooter and he made it count as he lifted a backhand past Jason LaBarbera for the win.
Andrew Cogliano had a goal and an assist while Mathieu Garon finished the game with 32 saves for the Oilers, who have won three of their last four.
"It's always good to win against your former team," said Garon, who played two seasons with the Kings. "But I think when it comes to the shootout you don't really think about that. You just want to make the saves."
Michal Handzus and Alexander Frolov each had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who have dropped their last three games. Erik Ersberg started the game in net, but was lifted after the first period as he gave up three goals on 13 shots. LaBarbera finished the game between the pipes and made 30 saves.
Los Angeles was thoroughly outplayed in the first period and switched goaltenders to start the second frame as LaBarbera took over between the pipes.
The move seemed to spark the Kings as the team scored four times in the frame to take the lead.
Oscar Moller fired a slap shot from the left circle that Garon stopped, but Handzus was there to tap in the rebound just 1:53 into the frame.
A bit over two minutes later, Anze Kopitar made it a one-goal game as he jammed the puck home during a scrum in front of the net.
Los Angeles tied the game on the power play as Frolov fired a pass from the low left side to the right circle where Jarret Stoll snapped a wrister high into the net at the 7:02 mark.
The Kings then took the lead with another power-play goal as Kyle Quincey let loose a shot on net from the left point that was stopped, but the puck was eventually dug out by Frolov, who slammed it home from the right side with 9:36 left in the second for a 4-3 advantage.
Edmonton, though, got the only goal of the third period to tie the game. A right circle faceoff win eventually resulted in Shawn Horcoff getting the puck at the right circle. Horcoff then flicked a pass out front where Dustin Penner knocked it out of the air and into the net at the 8:23 mark of the frame.
Edmonton dominated play in the first period and scored three times in the frame.
Ethan Moreau scored the first goal as he fired a one-timer from the inside left circle that beat Ersberg to the far post at the 8:09 mark of the frame.
Marc Pouliot lit the lamp with 5:29 left in the first to extend the lead and Cogliano netted the final goal of the frame as he swept in a rebound of a Rob Schremp shot that Ersberg was unable to swallow up with 1:16 to play.
"The first period the goaltender was changed because the goaltender wasn't good enough," Kings head coach Terry Murray said. "We're outshooting them 9- to-3 and we're down in the game. Ersberg didn't have it tonight and it ends up 3-0 at the end of the first period because of not stopping the puck."
Game Notes
Before the game, the Oilers placed left wing Robert Nilsson on injured reserve with an upper body injury and recalled center Gilbert Brule from Springfield of the American Hockey League...Frolov has a four-game goal streak and has scored six times in his last seven games...Los Angeles Kings defenseman Sean O'Donnell left the game in the third period with an apparent leg injury...Los Angeles hosts Columbus on Saturday...Edmonton plays in San Jose on Saturday...Los Angeles went 2-for-4 on the power play while Edmonton went 0- for-4.