Revenge game galore as Viktor Arvidsson, Warren Foegele go off against former teams

A Freaky Friday swap between the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings saw Viktor Arvidsson and Warren Foegele trade places in free agency and on Saturday, they faced their old teams for the first time.

Arvidsson, who missed a significant chunk of the season thus far due to a lower-body injury after signing a two-year, $4-million AAV deal, was coming off a one-goal, two-point performance before the Christmas Break that elevated his season totals to three goals and seven points in 19 games. It hadn’t been the start of the year many — or any — hoped for, but with Arvidsson feeling better after his injury, the expectation is that he begins to find his game.

twittFoegele, meanwhile, had inked a three-year, $3.5-million deal in sunny Southern California, enjoying similar success he had in Edmonton, scoring nine goals and 18 points in 34 games ahead of yesterday, per-game rates virtually identical to his regular season numbers last year with the Oilers.

What happens when a former Oiler goes against them continued, as Foegele scored a goal and two assists, helping the Kings win 4-3 in overtime.

While the Oilers would get a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the game when Kasperi Kapanen banged home a loose puck, raising his totals to four goals and five points in 15 games, it wouldn’t last long. Foegele would set up Quinton Byfield for LA’s first goal of the game minutes later, scoring his five minutes after that, and Edmonton faced a deficit.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would make the most of a power play early in the third, scoring quickly, and then something strange happened.

That thing where former Oilers always do well against them? Well, it swung back in Edmonton’s favour, as Arvidsson would wire a shot past Kings netminder Darcy Kuepmer, giving his club the lead.

“That was nice for sure,” said Arvidsson. “A lot of friends over there that I got close with, so it’s good to play them again.”

Tanner Jeannot would score for the Kings early in the third, set up in part by Foegele, and Byfield would end it in overtime, picking his spot over Stuart Skinner’s glove hand.

These are the kinds of games the Oilers had been finding ways to close out ahead of the Christmas break, usually by grinding out a tight third period. And while that, to a certain extent, came through yesterday, they couldn’t find that one extra goal.

“They had possession there for a while (in overtime),” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Nuge obviously can’t change recklessly. He’s got to stay out there. We were able to get a lot of changes one at a time and Ekky got off. So you can just see at the end there we had tired guys, and when you’re out tired, it’s difficult to defend.”

The Oilers schedule keeps rolling with another 2 p.m. matinee this afternoon against the Anaheim Ducks.