When the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings faced each other back on December 28th, the Kings came away with an OT win in front of a raucous Crypto.com Arena crowd after the Oilers blew their third period lead. With revenge on the Monday night menu at Rogers Place, the Oilers would need to bring their best to beat an L.A. team nipping at their heels in the Pacific Division standings. And on a night when offence was limited and defensive play was high, Connor McDavid came through with the game’s lone goal to lock in a massive divisional win.

CONNOR McDAVID BREAKS THE STALEMATE

The assists have been piling up for Connor McDavid, as they always do, but goal-scoring has been much harder to come by lately for the Oilers captain. The opening mark of Monday’s game against the Kings was only his third goal in his last 12 games, but it came at a big moment in a game that had next to no space available for either side. When games are as tight as this one, taking advantage of opportunities gets that much more important, and it’s no surprise that the captain snatched the lead for his team at the tail end of the second period. Big-time players make big-time plays.

As it turns out, McDavid’s birthday goal ended up as the game-winner and a perfect gift from the Hockey Gords to celebrate his big day. It was as if they wanted to offer him a hockey-related challenge on his big day that would reward him if executed properly, and it was up to him to solve the riddle and save the Oilers’ day. If only one person was going to score, why shouldn’t it be the captain on his 28th birthday against a division rival? The story writes itself. Have I been drinking Nation Beers? No, why do you ask?

STUART SKINNER BESTS DARCY KUEMPER

There was not a whole lot of ice available for either team, which meant there was added pressure on the goalies to keep the door shut on the few scoring chances that did pop up. And while there were more than a few quality opportunities at either end of the ice, the goaltenders came to the rink ready to play. Shots on the rush were handled without rebounds. Odd-man rushes were kicked aside without leaving dangerous rebounds. No matter what was happening in front of them, Stuart Skinner and Darcy Kuemper stood tall.

But on this specific night, Stuart Skinner was able to stop one shot more than Kuemper, and that proved to be the difference. Both goalies faced 30 shots on net of varying difficulties, but it was Skinner who came away with the shutout — his second of the season and sixth of his career — and a four-point swing in the standings. After a tough outing against the Penguins in his last start, Skinner rebounded as well as one could hope against a tough opponent. You love to see that kind of resilience from your starter, you know what I mean?

THE LACK OF POWER PLAY

It’s always interesting to hear things on the broadcast, like when Jack Michaels told us that the Oilers’ power play has been the best in the league since early November. Cool, I thought, hoping the boys would take advantage of either of their two first-half power play chances. What followed were two of the worst PP attempts the Oilers have had since October. The Kings pressured the puck no matter where it was on the ice, and that gave the Oilers fits, as they often couldn’t set up or even begin to think about generating offence. As much as I don’t want to nitpick a win too much, it was hard not to be annoyed by the Oilers generating only a single shot between the two power play chances they had in.

On the second power play chance of the game, the boys could barely make it into the Kings’ zone, so having them score almost felt like hoping for a miracle. Once again, they could not handle L.A.’s puck pressure. To me that suggests the opportunity to work on a few plan Bs and plan Cs just in case the opponent throws something Edmonton’s way that they weren’t expecting. Otherwise, the Oilers would be equally served on the man advantage by declining the power play, sitting under a parachute at centre ice, and wiping four minutes off the clock.

OTHER THINGS WORTH MENTIONING