The Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers knew the importance of starting strong following the teams’ return from the Olympic break.
That’s a big reason why none of the Los Angeles or Edmonton players who appeared in the gold-medal game on Sunday in Milan missed any NHL games upon their return.
Both the Kings and Oilers will be playing the second game of a back-to-back set when they meet on Thursday night in Los Angeles. Each dropped the opening half on Wednesday.
Edmonton superstar captain Connor McDavid hustled to Southern California after competing for Team Canada in the 2-1 overtime loss to Team USA. He had two assists against the Anaheim Ducks, but the Oilers squandered a pair of two-goal leads in the 6-5 loss.
After playing the Kings on Thursday, the Oilers will visit the San Jose Sharks on Saturday afternoon.
All three California teams are within six points of the Oilers, who fell into third place in the Pacific Division with the loss to Anaheim.
“It’s going to be a tight race coming down the stretch, and it’s going to be a sprint,” McDavid said. “There’s only a handful of weeks left and we haven’t secured anything, so we’ve got to find a way to get going here out of the break. It’s important. It starts with a big road trip here … all three teams, right there, so this is a big road trip for us.”
The Kings hosted the shorthanded Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night and lost 6-4.
Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty also played for Team Canada on Sunday in Milan but returned in time to make the morning skate on Wednesday.
“We need wins,” he said.
Artemi Panarin made his Los Angeles debut following his trade from the New York Rangers on Feb. 4 and had two assists.
“He doesn’t have to put the weight of the world on his shoulders, to put the team on his back,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “He’s obviously signed for a couple more years beyond this, so I think we can all just let him settle in. We’re going to see a terrific player as an L.A. King.”
The Golden Knights, who came into Wednesday leading the Pacific Division by four points over the Oilers, took the ice without five players who played in the gold-medal game on Sunday: forwards Mark Stone, Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel, and defensemen Shea Theodore and Noah Hanifin.
Vegas made up for some of those absences by activating forwards Brandon Saad and Colton Sissons, and defenseman Brayden McNabb from injured reserve.
Edmonton also welcomed back forward Adam Henrique after he missed 15 games with an upper-body injury.
“We’ve got 24 games left and right on the line of making or not making the playoffs,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “There’s not a stretch of games that are probably more important than they are right now.”
