4 Takeaways From Oilers’ 8-1 Win Over Kings

Edmonton’s Connor Ingram made 21 saves in a winning effort between the pipes. After giving up four goals on 15 shots, Los Angeles starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper was replaced by Anton Forsberg, who stopped 18 of 22 shots faced.

This was just the 12^th time in their 46 NHL seasons that the Oilers have won a game by at least seven goals on the road. Five of those victories have come in Los Angeles.

With the win, Edmonton snaps a four-game losing streak and improves its record to 29-23-8. The Oilers now sit second in the Pacific Division standings with 66 points.

Oilers Bounce Back for Huge Win

Just 24 hours after an absolutely crushing 6-5 loss to the host Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday (Feb. 25), in which they blew two multi-goal leads and allowed the winning goal with just 74 seconds remaining, the Oilers bounced back in Los Angeles for their most lopsided victory of 2025-26.

The importance of Thursday’s result can’t be understated. For one, it’s a major confidence boost for an Oilers team that hadn’t tasted victory since beating the San Jose Sharks 4-3 in overtime on Jan. 29, exactly four weeks prior. But most significantly, it was critical to Edmonton’s positioning in the race for a postseason berth.

Coming into the game, just four points separated the Oilers and Kings, who are fifth in the Pacific Division, just outside of a playoff spot. Had the Kings won in regulation, they would have pulled within two points of Edmonton while also having played two fewer games.

Instead, the Oilers have given themselves a bit of breathing room and sit much more comfortably in the standings with only 22 games left on their schedule.  

Pivotal Penalty Kill for Oilers

The Oilers jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the midpoint of the first period, with Emberson tallying at 7:25 and Podkolzin scoring at 8:19 of the opening frame.

But after Foegele quickly responded with a goal at 12:15 of the first, cutting Edmonton’s lead to 2-1, there was a sense of “here we go again” with the Oilers, who blew an early 2-0 lead in Anaheim on Wednesday. Then, with 4:32 remaining before the first intermission, Oilers blueliner Darnell Nurse was assessed a double-minor penalty for high-sticking Brian Dumoulin.

But the Oilers rose to the occasion, with one of their biggest and best penalty kills of the season. Edmonton allowed just one shot on goal over the four minutes, and that came with only seven seconds remaining on the power play.

It goes without saying that a four-minute man-advantage was a massive opportunity for the Kings. Had Los Angeles scored a goal (or two), the game could have unfolded much differently than it ultimately did.

Depth Scoring Carries Oilers

While the Oilers have only played two games since returning from the Olympic break, Edmonton’s depth scoring has stood out as a huge positive.

At Crypto.com Arena, seven different Oilers scored a goal, with two goals coming from the bottom six, three from the back end, and the other three from the team’s top three goal scorers: McDavid, Draisaitl and Hyman.

Before Thursday night, Emberson hadn’t scored since Oct. 28, while Mangiapane had managed just one goal since Dec. 20.

In these last two games, 11 different players have scored for Edmonton, with each of the four forward lines producing at least one goal.

Ingram Stakes His Claim

While he wasn’t tested heavily on Thursday, Ingram had a very solid game, making the saves he was supposed to.

It was a performance that stood in stark contrast to that of fellow Oilers netminder Tristan Jarry just 24 hours earlier. In Edmonton’s loss to the Ducks, Jarry gave up five goals, including a couple softies, on 25 shots.

With Jarry in the midst of a horrendous stretch, which has seen the 30-year-old go 2-4-0 with a goals-against average of 4.89 and save percentage of .831 over his last seven appearances, Ingram may have just staked his claim to the role of Edmonton’s No. 1 goaltender. At least for the time being.

The Oilers don’t have much time before their next game, which comes on Saturday (Feb. 28) afternoon against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center, so it will be interesting to see which goalie Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch elects to roll with for what will be another crucial game against a Pacific Division rival fighting to keep its playoff hopes alive.