Trevor Moore Leads Kings Past Oilers 3-1

That was the kind of performance Los Angeles Kings head coach Todd McLellan will love. The Kings defended as a unit, maintained their structure against a high-powered team, and earned a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

The star of Wednesday's game is undoubtedly Trevor Moore. The Thousand Oaks native scored his first career hat trick, netting a goal in each period.

"It was kind of funny, I didn't feel like I had my best game tonight," said Moore. "It was just one of those games where the puck finds you, or I guess I should say my linemates found me. Some good bounces out there."

"We're happy for him, he works his butt off night after night," said McLellan. "Does those things I talked about earlier, those defensive things that are key to winning some nights and he found a way to put the puck in the night. He's been there all year for us offensively, it just hasn't gone in a lot for him."

His three goals Wednesday were more than he had scored in 17 games to start the season, bringing his season total to five goals and 10 assists. His 15 points tie him with Gabe Vilardi for second on the team behind Kevin Fiala's 18.

It was a strong game for goalie Cal Petersen, who finished with 22 saves and .96 goals saved above expected. Only giving up one goal to a high-powered Oiler's team was mainly down to excellent team defense though. The Kings sacrificed the body all night, blocking 29 shots. They also kept their 1-3-1 shape in the neutral zone, slowing the Oilers down in transition and preventing odd-man rushes.

"We went from shoddy, I think was the word I used in Calgary to committed," said McLellan. "It looked different it felt different, played way closer to our identity, likely how we have to play to beat teams like this and a lot of teams in the league. So, proud of the group."

More impressively, the LA Kings ended Leon Draisaitl's 11-game point streak and Connor McDavid's 10-game point streak. Wednesday marked just the second game Draisaitl's been kept off the scoresheet and McDavid's third. It was also only the second game this season that neither player registered a point. 

Viktor Arvidsson had an eventful night as well. With an assist on each of Moore's goals, his best highlight was a goal-line clearance that denied McDavid a spectacular goal midway through the first period. After starting the season with zero points in his first five games, Arvidsson has grabbed 13 points in his last 12 games. He's been a big part of the recent success of the King's second line and second power-play unit.

The LA Kings have a day off Thursday before finishing their road trip with back-to-back games in Vancouver Friday and Seattle Saturday.