GAME RECAP: Kings 3, Oilers 0

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Edmonton Oilers were blanked 3-0 by the Los Angeles Kings after netminder Darcy Kuemper stopped all 27 shots he faced on Saturday afternoon to earn himself the shutout and award Edmonton's rivals two important points in the Pacific Division playoff race.

Winger Kevin Fiala opened the scoring by reaching 30 goals this season during the second period before Andrei Kuzmenko made it 2-0 for the hosts prior to the intermission. Trevor Lewis added an empty-netter in the final minutes of regulation as Los Angeles improved to 29-4-4 on home ice this season with the win.

Kuemper turned aside all 27 shots to pick up his fifth clean sheet of the campaign, lifting the Kings into a four-point lead on the Oilers for second place in the Pacific while pulling them to within one of the Vegas Golden Knights for first in the division with seven games remaining in the regular season.

"We had some chances, but we couldn't sustain the pressure," Corey Perry said. "They're a good hockey team. They're well-rehearsed and they play a certain type of structure to the best of their abilities."

Trent Frederic made his club debut on Saturday for the Oilers with the team still dealing with notable absences in Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm and Stuart Skinner from the lineup, and the winger was limited to only 7:10 of ice time and went minus-2 in his first game for Edmonton.

"I think we had some opportunities in the second period that we couldn't capitalize on, but the chances weren't a lot tonight and a lot of credit to them," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "And even with everyone in our lineup, it would still be tough to generate chances just because of the way they play."

Goaltender Calvin Pickard started his fourth straight game and made 27 of 29 saves in the defeat, which put an end to the Oilers three-game win streak.

Following a team day off on Sunday, Edmonton will wrap up its four-game road trip at the Honda Center on Monday against the Anaheim Ducks.

FIRST PERIOD

Just as you would've expected to see from winger Trent Frederic, but it was a debut of mixed reviews for the Oilers newcomer.

From the start of his first shift in an Oilers uniform on Saturday afternoon, Frederic showed exactly what the Blue & Orange had been hoping to see in his debut after he spent the first few weeks of his Oil Country tenure recovering from a lower-body injury he sustained as a member of the Boston Bruins.

"I thought he played really well," Knoblauch said. "There was a little re-evaluation just finding out how he's feeling, and then he continued to play after that. His minutes were a little bit lower tonight, but when he was on the ice, I loved his game."

Frederic started his first shift with a bang by delivering a hard check near the benches on defenceman Brandt Clarke only six seconds off the opening faceoff, but it quickly turned to concern when the 27-year-old didn't take another shift for the next 12 minutes later of the first period.

Frederic played 2:02 over four shifts in the first period during his first taste of NHL action since Feb. 25 and showed his tenacity and knack around the blue paint by being a handful around the Kings crease when he was able to get on the ice.

Frederic even close to giving his new team the lead when his wrap-around in the last minute of the period nearly solved goaltender Darcy Kuemper on his first real big chance generated.

"I like that he gives us a little bit of a presence around the net, some feistiness, and he was able to make some nice plays on the breakouts. It'll be nice when he's got a few games under his belt and a lot more comfortable with our team. He'll be a welcomed addition."

Earlier in the period, Hyman had a partial breakaway for Edmonton's next-best opportunity that was turned aside by a routine pad save from Kuemper, who made an identical 11 saves over the opening 20 minutes to Edmonton netminder Calvin Pickard.

The Edmonton shot-stopper was making his fourth consecutive start with Stuart Skinner on the team's injury list that includes Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm and John Klingberg, and he looked sharp in the first period helping turn the Kings aside on their opening power play.

SECOND PERIOD

A coach's challenge for offside from the Oilers early in the frame ruined 28-year-old winger Jake Malott's first-career NHL goal, but the Kings didn't relent following their overturned go-ahead goal by netting twice to take a 2-0 lead into the second intermission.

Malott scored what would've been a terrific first NHL goal by cutting to the inside of the right circle before elevating off his feet and throwing the puck into the far corner past Pickard, but an offside cmmmited moments before by centre Samuel Helenius on the zone entry ended up nullifying the 1-0 goal.

The Kings did however get a goal back from Kevin Fiala at 9:20 of the period, scoring off a quick rush and loose puck in the crease that was put on net by Alex Laferriere before the Swiss winger put away the rebound for his 30th goal of the campaign. Fiala has now scored eight goals in his last 11 games vs. Edmonton.

It became a 2-0 lead for LA just under seven minutes later from winger Andre Kuzmenko, who continues to be red hot on a line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe by netting his third goal and seventh point in his last four games for the Kings. The winger joined the Kings before the Trade Deadline from the Philadelphia Flyers after starting the season with the Calgary Flames.

After Vasily Podklozin missed on a few free whacks in the crease to try and halve the deficit before the intermission, the Oilers would have their work cut out for them in the third period, trailing 2-0 to a Kings team that came into Saturday's contest with a 28-4-4 record and a league-low 69 goals allowed at home.

THIRD PERIOD

The Oilers penalty kill did its job holding the Kings to 0-for-4 on the power play, but a pair of calls that went against them midway through the final frame took valuable even-strength minutes away to help allow Los Angeles to see out their shutout victory and earn two vauable points.

Edmonton had only one shot on goal in the first eight-and-a-half minutes of the third before a bench minor for too many men and and an interference call on Evan Bouchard against former teammate Warren Foegele left them to try and pack any sort of a potential comeback into the final seven minutes.

Even when the Oilers started to generate chances late in the third period, Kuemper & the Kings were there to stamp out any potential opportunity.

"They check very well as a five-man unit," Knoblauch said. "And when we did get a chance, Kuemper is a good goalie, and he was able to put everything else aside."

The Oilers pulled Pickard for the extra attacker with three minutes left, but after the puck bounced over the stick of Jake Walman at the blueline, Trevor Lewis was able to scoop up the puck and skate in to finish the game into the empty cage.

These two teams will meet one final time in the regular season on Apr. 14 in Edmonton before potentially their fourth meeting in a row during the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, to which Edmonton has won all three. But the Kings once again look like a formidable group that knows how to keep goals to a minumum, as exepmplified in their 29-4-4 record on home ice with only 69 goals allowed.